I rent in an urban area and was given a backyard full of 6 foot tall weeds. Over the winter I managed to somewhat reduce their numbers and have been fighting them down since but also I didn't really have any money for gardening so I just went with direct inground with a bag of miracle grow for fertilizer and some cheap mulch for bedding.
Pretty much a scraps garden. I have green onions and regular onions, garlic cloves that sprouted, bell pepper and jalapenos, a potato plant, 2 basil and 3 Thai basil, a daikon scrap I'm letting flower I hopes of seeds I can plant next year, and all my beans and peas on the fence over there.
I also planted a blueberry bush that I realized I really should have kept in a pot cause I realized how long that thing is gonna grow for.
I also threw potatoes under the bush in the far back that is doing pretty good and a strawberry I won't ever be able to eat the fruit from because the critters get up earlier in the morning than me.
It's all tradeoffs. I've been too busy with mulching to cover my squash vines and it's vine boarer season here :( it's on the list for this weekend.