Spring will be Sprung

Spring is almost sprung and I am contemplating planting a garden. I love the idea of being self sufficient. Before I go further let me say that I have no talent for gardening. Growing up I was dragged kicking and screaming into the fields to help my mother plant our vegetable garden but I've never been good at growing things (with the exception of peas which seem to grow themselves which is why they were my responsibility). I've been known to kill mint and if you've ever grown mint you know this is not any easy thing to do.

So, I thought I'd start small. Problem is that it is hard for me to do things in a small way. For me its usually go all out or don't even start. So now I'm trying to decide what vegetables I could grow that we would actually eat and that I could defend from dehydration and deer attack without driving myself insane. So far I'm thinking peas (gotta have em since they may be the only things to survive), lettuce, tomatoes and maybe some herbs. It seems reasonable to me. I was kicking around cucumbers but unless you are prepared to do some pickling, how often do you really eat cucumbers? Anybody have any suggestions for easy to grow yummy stuff?