What Happens When You Go Away For Two weeks

Garden Before Trip:

Garden After Trip:
Example of flowers before trip:

Example of flowers before trip:
Lesson learned: Think twice about asking a certain neighbor to water plants again.

Two Little Ones

I planted my garden this week. Well, it's not really a garden, but 8 tomato plants and 5 pepper plants. Matt says I need to "try" it for a year before I jump into having a large garden.
It took me 2 days to get the ground ready but I finally have the plants in. I went out to water this morning and found two tiny tomatoes on my cherry tomato plants. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.
When I started I stripped all the weeds, errrr I mean grass. Then I added a compost with cow manure before planting the small plants. Some of the leaves are yellowing, primarily near the base of the plant. I am sure it is from not planting them right away. Should I cut these leaves off? Add something to the soil? We had a garden in Illinois at our first house, but things seem much higher maintenance down here.
My hope is these plants really take off and I have enough tomatoes to make fresh salsa and to possibly can some sauce or even salsa.

If this goes well next year I want to try cucumbers, beans, zucchini and carrots. I would love some gardening tips, especially from those who live in the South.