Lol, I would not consider myself an "expert" but I'm almost there, thanks for the compliment though.
But you don't need to be scientist, so to speak, if you want to grow your own, you have this community for advice, use it well.
But since you have kids I don't know how that would work out, most kids need a bit of education on what drugs do to the body, from a realistic perspective, before they can have a sense of maturity when it comes to drugs. I'm still a teenager myself however, I'm taking college courses at EMCC and nearing graduation from HS, my maturity came a bit sooner... Unfortunately since I have chron's.

As for the weeds, soak the area to get the soil really loose, and pull the weeds CLEAN out - if you don't, they will come back within days. Spraying is usually bad for the surrounding environment and never really works, but no matter what you will always have weeds. Had to landscape my yard for years so you learn a few things, now I live in an apartment.

Check out this website if you want to start an organic garden, It's good for keeping weeds down and fresh vegies. They even have cat nip seeds, if you have cats? Idk.

If you have questions relating to anything Arizona or hydroponics/horticulture/gardens, just reply, plus I saved your email.