Thinking about your Spring garden yet? I am... and one practice I plan to experiment with this year is companion planting. That is, I'll be thinking about how some plants benefit the growth/survival of others, and placing them accordingly. The most user-friendly resource I've found so far is a chart on Wikipedia (which looks to be well-sourced); our writer ziggy has also written about companion planting, and resources to help you get started.
Try to start a garden with friends near by or good neighbors. It can help spread any costs and also give each other back up if vacations or work take you away for several days.