A little effort to learn goes a long way toward sustainable, successful plots and not wasting money or time and sounds like you've certainly started out on the right foot. Learn all you can (even if at first it seems confusing) and know that planting will require some learning...I don't think there's any way around it.
Easy and cheap would be winter wheat, oats, or rye but now (or spring) is the wrong time to plant those. Weed control depends on your crop choice and the weed type...pick the wrong one and either everything's dead, nothing's dead, or the wrong thing is dead. With the right one your plot will blossom. Soil preparation matters and of course different wildlife will use plots differently depending on what you choose.
One idea may be let the next few months be site selection, prep, soil amendments, and a cover crop like buckwheat (it'll grow on concrete) while planning for fall.
