Gardening

I would really like to take up gardening this year. I do not have a green thumb so this will really be a challenge. Thankfully, both my father and my sister, Diana have green thumbs so I expect to get lots of advice from them. On the sidebar, I've started a list of links to help me remember sites I've found that could be useful. I've also just checked the average last frost date for Ottawa and it is May 5 so I have just over a month before planting begins.
I love the idea of eating fresh veggies straight from the garden. I think that I will start out with just a few different kinds so that I am not overwhelmed. We already have a rhubarb plant on the side of our house and since this garden gets the most direct sunlight, I think it will be a good place to have a vegetable garden. Right now the soil in that area is very low and looks like it drains towards the house so we are going to have to add a lot of soil to make a proper bed.
I would like to have lots of wonderful flowers, as well. I will leave that up to my dad for now, as he is already drawing diagrams and plotting in his head.
I'll try to keep you posted on this endeavour. Any advice?