Calling All Zone 5 Gardeners! Please help me plan!

joanmarienana

After an especially cold week where my garden space was buried under 2 feet of snow, I am yearning for spring planting time, really bad! I am a fairly new gardener, and my husband actually doubled our garden bed size this past year, but late in the season, so I didn't get to take full advantage of it! So until winter loosens its hold, the best I can do is plan for spring! My biggest surprise success this past year was peppers; in varying degrees from hot to sweet; they were still coming til mid November, and I also tried a few herbs- the parsley was especially prolific, but the basil was done quite early. I had a few spaghetti squash, but hope to have a bigger patch this year, and had nice fresh lettuce for salads until August. For early planting I also want lots of peas, radishes, swiss chard, spinach (did not do very well), carrots, and maybe some more cauliflower (this year I got 2 heads the size of a pingpong ball). My dad suggested kohlrabi is easier to grow, so I plan to try that.
Anyways, please share any gardening tips or favorite nutritious veggies you've had success with in limited growing season. Thanks!