Winter vegetables

It's a blessing to live in SoCal and grow vegetables year-round. In contrast to tomatoes and basil--these are warm-weather vegetable and herbs, you would choose to grow cool-weather vegetables. They are carrots, lettuce, peas, etc. 

As No. 1 rule of my gardening, and since I am a beginner, I have chosen the following as-said "easy-to-grow" vegetables:

1)Lettuce 

2)Kale

3)Garlic

4)Ginger

5)Peas

1, 2, 5 were from seeds. They all germinated quickly, but crickets had eaten most of the lettuce and kale seedlings. I had to plant another round of seeds immediately. Just the same time I read that a home gardener should not hope to plant one round of seeds, and then sit and wait for them to grow in a synchronized manner. A home garden is an open environment, and you constantly invite birds, insects, and little mammals whether you like it or not. So you should constantly replace the growth, particularly when you are some sort of organic grower. 

Here are the pictures:

Upper: Kale, Sage, Ginger, strawberries, garlics.Lower: Lettuce

Three peppers (Sweet pepper, Serrano, Jalapeno) and peas

This is the flower bed. Now it has lavenders, rosemary, catmint, thyme, and a Christmas Poinsettia.