Find out your last frost date, then look at the seed packets. It will tell you when to plant in reference to your last frost date. For example, cucumbers packets sometimes say "Plant out starting 1-2 weeks after last frost" or "after soil has warmed to 68 degrees". Well, those two things don't necessarily happen at the same time. Just because you've had a last frost doesn't mean the soil is going to be 68 degrees 1-2 weeks later. That's why I also recommend using your local extension service and your local master gardeners. Your signature says you're in Illinois so you can start here: http://web.extension.illinois.edu/vegguide/ or here: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies. You might also consider going back to your local garden store and getting more information from them. I've found my local garden shop to be very helpful. There are often people there who've been gardening in your area for years and years and have seen it all. That said, I want to make a few comments about your specific questions. - I would recommend starting your cucumbers indoors now so they can start growing before you put them outside after it warms up. You can certainly start them outdoors in a few weeks, but then you lose some growth time. - You can plant the kale seeds directly outdoors now. I've found kale to be quite tolerant of cold and heat (unlike some other cole vegetables). But even if it doesn't have time to mature before it gets too warm, you can harvest smaller leaves (which are very tender and yummy). - For your potatoes (yay for Yukon Gold - great choice!), it depends on your soil. If you have a loose, well drained soil then you can plant them directly in the ground. Otherwise raised beds are good. I don't recommend containers or potato towers, as I've never gotten them to produce much. I'm a big believer in planting stuff directly into the ground, and I have 100% clay soil in my yard! You're in Illinois, so chances are your soil is a lot better than that.

Corn will grow well with squashes, peas, beans, but don't plant onions or garlic near peas or beans. For corn make sure the roots never show on top, it is disastrous, grow them in a small ditch 6 inches deep row, plant the seed in the row, and as the corn grows to 3 1/2 feet tall, fill it in 8 inches , 2 inches over the normal 6 inch height of your ditch. Use lots of fertilizer with it. Don't plant tomatoes next to corn, I've read opposite, but half and half of the sites you find say not to grow them next to each other. Collards are cool weather crop and mine did better in the fall. Maybe plant them under something bushy and tall to shade them. Some grow the tall, I pick them at 3 to 6 inches, so if you pick them small, you can have more above ground space and they will fit nicely under something. The sun rises east to west, plant all your tall stuff North, short stuff south.

You don't have to work in them every night, by any means, once they're established. The garden will take most work at the beginning of the season. Did you use soil from your property, or buy topsoil or something? Since it's the first time you're using this soil it is a good idea to have it tested for pH, N, P, and K. The store bought kits aren't accurate, best to send a soil sample to your county extension. Then you know what you're working with. If you have to add something to balance or boost the nutrients, keep in mind that it's better to feed the soil than the plants. This will make it better each year. Using plant food is kind of equivalent to you living on vitamins instead of food. There are a lot of ideas about what to feed the soil. There's a lot written about using rock powders to supply phosphorus and potassium (P,K). I like these, b/c it basically replicates the way nature builds soil: from breaking down rock into tiny particles. People often supply the soil with P with bone meal, bone char, rock phosphate. For K, greensand, or a mixture of wood ashes and kelp. Nitrogen is supplied by blood meal, fish meal, alfalfa meal... Compost may supply it too, depending on what it's made of. I never add N b/c my compost seems to supply enough. If you don't make your own compost, you can buy it in bags. Add a couple of inches the first year, only a half or one inch yearly after that. You can put it on top of the soil now that the beds are already planted. In the future you take the compost and whatever nutrients you're using and kind of chop it in up and down with a rake or hoe. You want to mix it into the top few inches. As others have said, use a trowel or get a hand weeder and scrape along just under the surface of the soil to cut the roots. Just a sweeping motion. Get them while they're small, it's easiest this way. After than, mulch will keep them down. Mulch does a lot of things: it keeps the soil cool, keeps it from drying out, gives worms something to work, eventually breaks down and adds organic matter to your soil. You'll be amazed when you lift up a section of mulch and see the beautiful soil underneath.

To answer the questions posed by Daniel_NY, The cucumbers were not planted in the same spot. Last year's planting was located in the original plot, but 20 feet away on the other side of where they were the year prior. All expiration dates were December 2012. I always check for a good date before I buy them. I had a total of four varieties of cukes from all those packs. I never have used fungicide in my garden, and before this, I have always had wonderful harvests of cukes. I think it's time again for a soil analysis from the cooperative extension. Maybe that can shed some light on this issue. Thanks, veggie_pak