Thanks for the great suggestions. I had not considered the county cooperative extension, but I see they are nearby and should be helpful. We do have rabbits and squirrels - seems like it might be difficult to keep them out. As far as your suggestion of attracting pollinators, maybe some flowers on the outside of the stone wall would be nice - I guess there are some types that the animals don't like, but again I assume that doesn't prevent them from finding a way to the vegetables. That's the part I'm getting hung up on. It will be a learning experience for both the parents and the children!

Do they eat tomatoes? Cherry tomatoes are very rewarding and easy to grow.

Loose leaf lettuce is a good place to start. Rabbits could be a problem. Broccoli is hard to grow for me but might be easier since you are further north. Carrots are also pretty easy to grow. With lettuce and carrots, just make sure not to plant them too deep. With lettuce can even sow them on top of the soil.

Then, when it gets warmer, plant tomatoes. They should be easy to grow, with the cherry tomatoes the easiest. You could start them in the house 6 to 8 weeks before last frost and put them. You can plant them before the last frost if you provide protection such as a 5 gallon bucket over the top. It works as long as the temperature stays in the 30's.

Snap beans are also easy to grow, provided the rabbits do not eat them.

Going back to the beginning, a very narrow plating bed against a west facing fence is far from an ideal setting for most vegetables. If this is the only possible location, I would start peas or radishes in this area. Both are cool season crops, do not need as much sunlight as most other veggies and germinate and grow rapidly, making them appealing to kids. Greens are another possibility. Otherwise, you want a larger area in full sun (8 or more hours) to grow things like beans, tomatoes or squash.

It depends on what part of the country you are from. In the south a west facing fence would be good to keep the hot sun from burning up the plants. Tomatoes can tolerate some shade and still produce well. Now a north fence would be a problem, but a west fence should not hurt.

Thanks for the comments about the size and location of the planting bed. I have been watching the sun and I'm not sure there will be 8 hours of full sun. There are also trees behind the fence that will provide some shade. In the picture you can see there is evidence the previous residents grew tomatoes, however I have no idea if they were successful or not! Based on the comments it sounds like radishes and lettuce are good candidates, plus maybe give cherry tomatoes a try. I'll have to research how much to plant in the small space - I don't need a lot, just enough to experiment and for the kids to watch and participate.

Netting could be attached to fence to support peas or beans.

Some crops that will grow in less than 8 hours sun are leafy and salad greens, root crops like radishes and onions, and most herbs. Peas and beans also, but will produce a smaller crop than in full sun.

Consider planting the cherry tomatoes in a hanging basket so you can move it to a sunnier location if it is not doing well in the partial sun.

Another crop you might consider is garlic; each clove will produce a whole new bulb. It is best planted in fall (September or October, though I've planted as late as early December with success), and will be harvested in May or June, depending on variety and your weather. It will send up some shoots that persist through winter - love seeing those! - then really take off in early spring.

Peppers (whether hot or sweet) are great options for a garden that size. Tomatoes would do great as well. I say start with easy (both of those) and then next year go bigger. FYI- Lettuce can get tricky bc critters eat it by the time you walk away :)

Yeah, your plot is too small for wide varieties of crops. Tomatoes and peppers will do. Its really nice to know many people love to do backyard gardening most specially if your family chose to plant vegetables. The good thing about it is that you can eat freshly picked vegetables when you want to. What I love to plant in our backyard is lettuce. How I love to make fresh salad. We already have onions, tomatoes, and radish at our backyard. But I had a problem growing some lettuce since I can see rabbits in our neighbor. Trying to talk to them first before plating those lettuce.