The Straw Bale Garden: Planning

Just over a week ago I "broke straw" and began planting a combination of transplants and seeds. Leading up to that I spent many hours reading up on straw bale gardening, conditioning the bales for 12 days, planning what I wanted to grow, shopping for supplies, bugging people at local garden centers and learning a lot about...everything really. But I'd been dealing in theory until this last week, now I'm an official gardener.
One of the most difficult tasks was deciding what to grow in my garden. I made a list of the foods we, as a family, like to eat. After large doses of coffee and many scribbled up lists I decided to go with this layout.

I had to resort to getting my plans up on my kitchen chalkboard door because I kept misplacing the paper it was on and the amount of contemplation that went into these plans just COULD NOT be lost.

I am a huge lover of all things garlic and onion but read they are better cold weather crops so I decided to get three more bales closer to fall and will plant onion, garlic and potatoes as well.

I also nixed the echinacea. I still want to plant some flowers from seeds along the back but haven't decided what and am open to suggestions. I wanted echinacea for making tea but understand it can take two years to bloom so I will sprinkle those seeds around my dilapidated pond near the wicked thistle plant I let grow. Although it's a weed I wanted to try making thistle tea.

My wicked looking thistle.