The Ten Easiest Vegetables To Plant in Your Garden

The calendar may say that spring is still a couple of weeks away, but for me the gardening season began to heat up in earnest in January when seed catalogs began arriving daily in my mailbox.

Having a home vegetable garden seems to be growing in popularity as much as farmer's markets are. Whether you have lots of land or just a postcard-sized plot, you can grow your own fresh veggies. Even if you have no garden space at all, why not think about gardening in planters?

If you are new to the process, it is best to think about choosing the easiest vegetables to grow. To help you get started, I have created this list, designed for the novice gardener and chosen for ease of planting, resistance to disease, and high yield.

I like to divide the list into two categories: cold weather vegetable plants and warm weather vegetable plants. In each category, some are best planted from seed directly into the soil while others do much better as plant seedlings.

These cold weather vegetables can be sown from seed about six weeks before the average last frost:

1. Radishes
2. Lettuce: pelletized seeds make planting individual heads a breeze, or sow mesclun mix where the seed is just scattered in a wide swath over the soil
3. Sugar Snap Peas
4. Swiss Chard (Bright Lights)
5. Beets (Red Chioggia)

Warm weather vegetables are those that are frost-sensitive and planting time will vary depending on what zone you live in. Check the USNA plant hardiness zones to determine this. To start indoors, be sure to have sufficient light. Long and leggy plants are the result of not enough light. Use good florescent lights. Tubes should be placed one to two inches above the seedlings. Seedlings need at least 14 to 16 hours of light and eight hours of darkness each day. Before planting them in the garden they need to harden off first for about a week by placing them outside during the day in a partially shaded area and away from harsh wind. Bring them in at night or cover them.

Warm weather vegetables include:

1. Zucchini (Romanesco)
2. Onion Sets
3. Bush Beans (Roma Flat Bean)
4. Cucumbers
5. Tomatoes: popular tomato varieties include: Cherry (Sweet One-Hundreds and Sun Gold); (Larger size (Celebrity and Bush Early Girl); Plum (Roma VF and Pony Express)

For tomatoes, it is best to buy plants at your local garden center a week or two before the predicted last frost for your area.

Keep a log of how your vegetables do; a vegetable garden is a trial and error endeavor. Above all, have fun and be happy knowing that you are doing something good for your health and for the environment.

 

 

 

Comments

[Fuddgate]

06:54 AM on 03/07/2011

Tomatoes and hot peppers are the biggest favorites on my list. It's too early to attempt putting anything out in Colorado yet, but I'm going to start germinating seeds soon and start them in styro cups under CFL's.

[theboneranger]

01:31 AM on 03/07/2011

Don't forget cabbage. It's still too early here but in about two weeks I think it'll be safe to plant cabbage and Mustard greens. They love cool damp weather.

[halfpricefaustian]

06:13 PM on 03/05/2011

I love the romanesco zucchini, they are awesome. They are not as prolific as regular ones, but the texture and flavor make them well worth it. Almost as good is Magda, a Lebanese type zucchini.
For some good cold weather greens, I cannot recommend Komatsuna enough. It is very mild, tolerant of light to medium frosts, and is a beautiful dark green leaf. I use it instead of spinach in my spanakopita. You can get it from Kitazawa or Evergreen seeds.

[elcerritan]

03:27 PM on 03/05/2011

Kale is another easy cool weather crop. I prefer it (in all its varieties) to chard.

[homer winslow]

02:15 PM on 03/04/2011

I planted tomato, pepper and swiss chard seed last weekend in peat pots in the basement under flourescent lights. The tomatoes and chard are up, the peppers will be next. This weekend I am planting a couple of herb gardens, also in the basement under flourescents. The garlic and onions go in the ground this weekend also. Gardening in Colorado requires more preparation and skill than gardening in Texas. I miss having tomatoes in April.

[halfpricefaustian]

06:17 PM on 03/05/2011

I agree that the weather is more challenging in the Colorado/Utah area, but I never had better tomatoes than when I grew some in Utah. They love the dry air, cool nights and moderate days. My tomatoes mostly fail from the heat here in Texas.

[traceymarie]

12:37 PM on 03/04/2011

My tomatoe plants are blooming and my peppers are huge already. Onions in and growing and the beans and squash go in next week. I can my extras and give some away to friends, I also have my herbs already started and range from 1" to 5" plants, seed of course. My tomatoes and herbs reseeded from last year. I cover in jan when the temps get too cold. I am in Texas, so we start a bit earlie then some.