Spend the time to watch how much direct sun the backyard gets, even if it looks mostly open. Surprisingly, after I plotted sun paths, I discovered I get enough direct sun to grow only 2-3 sun-loving plants (tomatoes/peppers/beans/squash/cukes) in the whole yard. On the bright side
, I've got tons of room for greens. Sigh. And I hope I will still have community garden space to grow all the plants I'm starting.