To the novice gardener, planning a garden and then choosing which crops to plant can be overwhelming. There are literally thousands (about 7,500 or so actually) of tomato varieties alone!
Varieties aside, you want to choose vegetables that are easy to grow and prolific. While nothing is foolproof, the following 8 vegetables are good starter crops for the novice gardener:
Lettuce Greens
Pretty much every type of lettuce or green that you can think of grows rapidly and easily from seed. An almost instant salad can be yours and you can mix up the greens to suit your taste.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are one of the most popular crops to grow. Even people that don’t like tomatoes often grow them. Again, there are numerous types of tomatoes to choose from. We recommend getting your starts from a nursery in your area. They will more than likely be carrying those that are suitable for your region and can steer you towards those that are the easiest to grow with a good yield.
Green Beans
Beans are easy to grow and talk about prolific! Again, we would recommend purchasing your starts if this is your first gardening attempt. Starting seeds isn’t difficult, but it does require some attention and experience. Don’t go overboard on purchasing starts, however. A couple of plants are probably just fine for 2-4 people.
Green Onions
Tomatoes and beans are great starter veggies that keep on producing for lengthy periods of time, but nothing beats the ease of growing green onions. Green onions are fool proof and can easily be directly sown into the garden or container. They germinate rapidly and, in no time, you can be harvesting a crop of green onions. About midway through their growth, you can seed a second time for yet another crop.
Or you can regrow green onions in a glass of water in a sunny location of the kitchen. Just stick the root end of the onion (that you would be discarding anyway) in the water and watch it grow!
Peas
Many types of peas are easy to grow. Just situate your transplants in a sunny area of the garden or in a container and provide the plants with a support or trellis. Vertically growing peas, such as snap peas, is also a great way to maximize your garden space if it is small. Of course, you may also choose a bush variety of pea which requires no support.
Radishes
Radishes are as easy to grow as green onions. They can also be directly sown into the garden and, if you keep them irrigated, you’ll have radishes in between 20-30 days!
Summer squash and Zucchini
Summer squash, such as yellow squash or zucchini, are super fun to grow. They are incredibly fruitful and you’ll probably be giving them away to all your friends and family. They do require quite a bit of space, however, but you can also grow them vertically to maximize a small garden.
Zucchini, especially, is almost camouflaged under the large squash leaves, so you can end up with some truly massive specimens, but if you want sweeter and more tender fruit, pick smaller squash.
Eggplant
Depending upon where you live, eggplant can be another super easy crop to grow. Eggplant likes warmer temperatures and does very well in the southern regions of the country. Again, eggplant needs some support as it grows.
