10 of the easiest vegetables to grow for beginning gardeners

 

There are so many great reasons to try your hand at growing food. It's cost-effective, it's therapeutic, it's rewarding, and it's healthy. I wanted to give you a list of some of the easiest, practically no-fail, plants to grow in your vegetable garden. 

Lettuce

Easy to grow in containers or direct sown into the ground if you wanted to start from seed. And can be started in the spring.

You can start a patch, wait a few weeks and start a second patch to extend your harvest times, then you can plant again in the fall.

Leaf Lettuce can cut as it grows so you can harvest from it many times.

Spinach

A cold-weather tolerant plant makes it easy to grow in early spring and late fall.

They grow easily from seed, you can direct sow them, or sow them in containers.

Spinach doesn’t need a lot of sun, so can grow in dappled light, unlike a lot of the vegetable plants listed here.

Green Beans

Do you ever wonder why almost every child at some point in elementary school will grow beans in clear cups in the spring to learn about plants and how they grow? Because they are one of the easiest plants to grow from seed.

Bush varieties are easy and don’t require anything to climb on. As a personal preference, I like to get string-less varieties to save me some work when I am harvesting them!

As with Lettuce, you can plant a patch of green beans, wait a couple of weeks and plant another patch to extend your growing season and not have to harvest all at one time.

Zucchini

Zucchini can be an easy to grow, well-producing plant. You will need to plant 2 to 3 plants to try to ensure good pollination so you will actually, get some produce! And be aware, one plant can produce SEVERAL zucchini, so don’t plant TOO many unless you plan to share with family or neighbors ;)

These plants can spread out a bit, so you will want to plant them about 3 feet apart.

You need to keep an eye on these, as the zucchini can grow quickly and become very large in a matter of days. So check the plant often once the blooms start to appear. 

Beets

Beets are fast growers, and easy to grow. 

They can be planted in the spring, and again in the fall as they are cold tolerant, so one pack of seeds can yield you quite a bit of return! But, keep in mind you will need to thin out the plants when they start to come up as seedlings.

Beets are full of nutrients and can add beautiful color to your meal. You can also eat the greens as well as the roots. 

Cucumbers

If you have a trellis or a fence you can grow vining cucumbers on this type of structure and introduce some edibles into your flower garden! Or if you have a small space, bush cucumbers can be grown in containers on your deck or balcony.  

Cucumbers are another plant on this list that produces a lot, and produces quickly! So, as with the lettuce and the green beans, you can plant your cucumbers, wait a couple of weeks and plant another batch for a lot of yield, just not all at once.  Just do not plant these too early, as they need the heat, and do not tolerate the cold well.

Cucumbers are so versatile and can be used in so many ways from freshening your ice water to diced in a pasta salad, or just pickled as a side dish.

 Sugar Snap Peas

These are another cold-tolerant plant and should be planted in early spring. But a tip, make sure they get plenty of sun to give you sweet tasting snap pods.

These plants mature quickly and give a good yield.

Use the pods to snack with dip, throw into a salad or add to a stir fry!

Onions

Onions are easy to grow, tolerate the frost, give a great yield and are so versatile.

Pick up one or two kinds of onion sets, plant in loosened soil in full sun.

Plant half your sets in the spring, and plant again in the fall for a long-lasting harvest, as onions store well in a cool dry place, or can be dried or frozen to preserve easily!

Pumpkins

Pumpkins can be an easy and fun thing to grow in your garden, as long as you have the space to let them vine. They need to be planted after any threat of frost and in a sunny spot.

There are a lot of varieties, so read through the seed packets and pick one just right for you, whether you want to harvest and eat the pumpkins, or if you just want them for the fall décor and carvings!

If you want to harvest the pumpkins for eating, they can store pretty well in a cool dry place, as long as you let them cure in the sun for about a week first.  

Tomatoes

Tomatoes come in so many varieties, and can easily be grown in the garden, or in containers. They love the heat and the sun and good watering.

Most plants put out a lot of fruit, so be mindful not to plant more than you will be able to use. 

But, if you like canning, tomatoes are a must for a variety of sauces or salsa. Speaking of salsa… if you grow tomatoes and onions, which are both easy to grow veggies included in this list, you may consider adding in a cilantro plant so you have all the ingredients on hand to make some fresh pico de gallo! Yum!! Or give some fried green tomatoes a try for a delicious side dish.

 A few more tips for beginners

• My first tip is to just get started! Don't be afraid to try. It's a pretty small investment, that could give a big return.
• Even if you have a small space, you can fit in 2 or 3 plants to try, whether tucked into a small flower bed or on the patio in some inexpensive containers. 
• Did you know, if you receive SNAP/EBT benefits, you can buy vegetable seeds or even plants with your benefits at grocery stores or farmer's markets that accept EBT!?!
• Also, if you are struggling for money to purchase seeds, you may go in with another person or two, each buys one or two packets of seeds, and share!

Talk about healthy foods on a small budget! Happy Gardening my friends!

~Stacy