Basic Advice Needed

[NeedleCast]

Howdy,

Next spring I plan to try planting my first garden. I a plot behind my garage, about 15 feet by 10 feet. It gets a medium amount of direct sunlight, although the back section of it would often be in the shade of the garage. I live in the Washington, DC area, so we have a mild climate most of the year.

I have never attempted to garden before, but have been looking for something to do with this chunk of land in my backyard for awhile now and figured why not.

I'm looking for suggestions on what would do well in the enviornment I've described. Some favorites of mine are peppers (hot), berries, tomatoes, carrots and any sort of herb. I've also considered trying to grow (and cure) tobacco. I travel frequnetly for work, so I'd need something in the mid-to-low maintinance range. I do have a roommmate, but I don't want to put pressure on her to take care of my pet project when I'm not around other than making sure it gets watered.