Gardening for Beginners: 8 Easy Vegetables

Are you thinking of starting your first garden? You’ll find a variety of tips to get you started in Gardening for Beginners: 8 Easy Vegetables!

 

Table of Contents:

• Gardening for Beginners: 8 Easy Vegetables
• Tips for Beginning Gardeners: Grow What You Like to Eat
• What to Look For on a Seed Packet
• Cool Crops vs Heat-Loving Crops
• The Importance of Frost Dates
• Soil Type
• Easiest Vegetables by Region

 

 

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Gardening for Beginners: 8 Easy Vegetables

The easiest vegetables to grow can vary quite a bit with your location, climate and soil type, but when I interviewed gardeners across the United States, these 8 vegetables consistently ranked highest.

 

#1 Green Beans

Green beans come in two types: bush or pole.

Bush beans only grow 1-2′ tall and don’t require support. They typically ripen faster than pole types, but bush beans ripen all at once, so produce beans for a much shorter period of time. A bush bean plant might produce boatloads of beans for only 1-3 weeks, while a pole bean can continue to produce for months.

Pole beans grow 6-10′ or more, so need some form of trellis to grow on. They usually take two to three weeks longer than bush types to start producing beans, but will continue pumping out delicious beans for much longer.

Beans like warm temperatures and cannot tolerate any frost.

When it comes to gardening for beginners, green beans are a great choice!

Did you know? Most green beans can be allowed to dry out on the plant for a harvest of dried beans. Many of the same varieties, such as Dragon’s Tongue, were historically used for both green beans and dry pinto beans!

 

#2 Peppers

 

Peppers like hot temperatures! They are easiest to grow in the south, or in areas with a long, warm growing season, but with a little more trouble they can be grown in the North too!

If you are in the south, this one definitely is a great gardening for beginners choice!

You may find that hot (spicy) peppers are easier to grow than bell peppers.

Peppers are usually purchased as young plants, or started from seed indoors 2-3 months before your last frost. To start your own seeds inside, you’ll need a nice south-facing window or grow lights.

 

#3 Tomatoes

 

Like peppers, tomatoes should be started indoors or purchased as young plants. They like hot temperatures and lots of sun, and cannot tolerate frost.

Tomato plants come in two basic types: determinate and indeterminate.

Determinate tomatoes grow to a certain height and then stop, putting all their energy into producing fruits. Determinate varieties do well in containers and are generally less maintenance.

Indeterminate varieties keep growing taller and taller. These types will need larger cages or staking and may need to be pruned. Many of the most flavorful heirloom tomatoes are indeterminate.

The prolific nature of tomatoes makes them a really fun choice when gardening for beginners!

 

#4 Cucumbers

 

Cucumbers like warm days and plenty of sun, along with lots of water to produce the best tasting cukes! They cannot tolerate frost.

When it comes to gardening for beginners, consistent watering will help avoid bitter cucumbers, and daily picking will keep your plants producing!

Cucumbers grow on a vine that can quickly take over a small garden. They can be grown on a trellis to save space.

Cucumbers thrive in warm areas with long growing seasons, such as the south, but they can be grown almost anywhere in the US.

 

#5 Root Vegetables

Root vegetables, such as carrots, beets, radishes, turnips and parsnips, can tolerate a light frost and even appreciate cooler temperatures. 

They make excellent crops for the spring and fall!

These vegetables can be grown anywhere in the US, but are easier to grow in sandy soil types than in clay.

Root crop seeds are usually planted directly in the ground, not started indoors.

Although technically a tuber and not a root, potatoes are another easy crop that grows underground.

You can start a potato patch by purchasing disease free seed potatoes, or simply planting organic supermarket potatoes. Non-organic potatoes at the supermarket are often treated with chemicals to keep them from sprouting and may not grow.

Potatoes are usually planted one foot deep a few weeks before your last frost.

 

#6 Lettuce

 

Lettuce does best in cool spring or fall temperatures, and needs lots of water to keep it from getting bitter. The seeds are typically planted directly in the garden.

Lettuce can tolerate a light frost. Lettuce is a great crop for cooler northern areas!

Lettuce is really a great choice for gardening for beginners, and it’s one vegetable that is definitely better harvested garden fresh!

 

#7 Squash

 

With all it’s variety and bright colors, squash, including summer squash, zucchini, winter squash and pumpkins, is one of my favorite vegetables to grow!

Squash seeds are usually planted directly in the garden after danger of frost is past.

All squash plants like heat. They are very low maintenance and don’t require much weeding. If you are short on time, squash is a great choice to grow in your garden!

Summer squash and zucchini plants usually grow into a large bushy plant that can take up quite a bit of garden space.

Winter squash and pumpkins on the other hand, have long vines that go everywhere and can quickly take over a small garden. If you are short on garden space, winter squash is probably not a good choice.

Before growing squash, check with other gardeners to find out if squash vine borers are a problem in your area. While this pest can be dealt with, it might not be something you want to tackle when it comes to gardening for beginners!

 

#8 Garlic

 

A popular and rewarding low-maintenance crop, garlic is usually grown from cloves, not from seed. 

Although garlic can be planted in the spring, it performs the best when planted in mid-fall and covered with mulch for the winter. Just like a tulip or daffodil, the bulbs will send up little stalks in early spring. Garlic can also be started indoors or in a greenhouse in late winter and transplanted outdoors in early spring.

You can buy “seed garlic” or start with organic garlic from the store. Non organic supermarket garlic is sometimes sprayed with chemicals to keep it from sprouting and may not grow.

 

Gardening Tips for Beginners

 

Still not sure where to start? Here are some resources and additional gardening tips for beginners!

 

Grow What You Like to Eat!

This is probably my number one tip on gardening for beginners!

When deciding what to grow in your garden, take a look in your fridge! Think about what vegetables you buy in the store, and what vegetables you will actually eat! 

If your family isn’t so into greens, maybe a salsa garden with tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, onions and garlic would be a better way to go! More fun options include potatoes or sweet potatoes, spices, pumpkins for pumpkin pies, melons and even berries!

 

What to Look For On Seed Packets

When picking out seeds, it is helpful to know some of the lingo on seed packets!

Most seed packets and catalogs have an “F1” or “OP” abbreviation. “F1″ means that the variety is a hybrid. Hybrids are often faster growing and a great choice for the beginning gardener. They are not good if you want to save your own seeds, since they usually don’t breed true.

“OP” stands for open pollinated. An open pollinated variety is pure, not a hybrid. If you save seeds from an open pollinated plant, they should breed true.

Some seed packets are labeled as “heirloom” varieties. An heirloom is an open pollinated vegetable that has been passed down from generation to generation. Many heirlooms have been grown for hundreds of years. Some have been around for thousands!

Seed packets also list days to maturity. If a packet of beans says “60 days”, that means that under ideal growing conditions the beans will be ready to harvest around 60 days after you plant them.

 

 

Cool Crops vs Heat-Loving Crops

 

Cool crops like cool weather and can usually tolerate frost. Many cool crops can also handle partial shade.

Some of the many cool crops include lettuce, spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, peas, onions, leeks, beets, carrots, radishes, parsnips, parsley and celery.

If you live in a cool, wet climate like much of the west coast, these crops will be the easiest to grow!

Heat-loving crops prefer warm weather and usually cannot take even the lightest frost.

Some warm crops include tomatoes, peppers, summer and winter squash, cucumbers, melons, gourds, beans, basil and corn.

If you live in the south, you’ll probably have better luck starting with warm crops!

 

The Importance of Frost Dates

 

 

Each area has a period of time in the summer when it typically doesn’t freeze (unless you live far enough south that it doesn’t freeze at all!).

You can look up or ask other local gardeners what the average frost dates are in your area. The last frost date is the average day that your area has its last frost in the spring.

The first frost date is the average day your climate gets its first frost in the fall.

The number of days between those two dates is your growing season. My area usually has a growing season of around 90 days between frosts. Warm crops need to be grown in this window, so I avoid frost sensitive varieties that have days to maturity longer than that. They can be covered with tarps or row covers to protect against an early or late frost.

 

Soil Type

Another factor that makes a big difference in what you can grow is soil type. The ideal soil for growing a wide variety of crops is a balanced “loam”.

Soil in some areas is high in clay. Clay soil holds water well (often too well) and is good for growing water-loving plants like celery, lettuce, peas, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and kale.

Sandy soil, on the other hand, drains quickly and tends to be better for root crops.

If your soil is sandy or has a lot of clay, adding composted manure will help to balance it out. You can find out more about testing your soil at home here.

Adding mulches such as unsprayed hay or straw, grass clippings or leaves on top of the soil can also improve the soil quality. Mulching is great for keeping the weeds away too! These types of mulches are added on top of the garden soil and are not tilled in. Each year you just add more mulch on top.

When gardening for beginners, raised beds with purchased soil can be an easier way to get started, although it can be quite costly.

 

 

Easiest Vegetables by Region

 

And finally, the easiest vegetables to grow by US region!

Generally speaking, these are the vegetables many gardeners consider easiest to grow in their region. There is a wide range of climates and soil types in each of these regions, so which vegetables work best for you might be different. Hopefully these suggestions will at least give you a good place to start!

 

Northeast USA

• Green beans
• Tomatoes
• Peppers
• Squash

 

Southern USA

• Tomatoes
• Peppers
• Cucumbers
• Melons
• Green Beans

 

Midwest USA

• Green Beans
• Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Corn

 

Northwest USA

• Green Beans
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Melons

 

 

Our Favorite Gardening Books for Beginners

These are our top three recommended gardening books for beginning gardeners! You can find more recommended books on gardening here!

 

The Vegetable Gardeners Bible

This big book is just packed with information! Edward explains all the basics of gardening, planting, watering, weed control, pest control and harvesting. The last part of the book goes into detail on exactly how to grow each vegetable.

Highly recommended for beginning gardeners!

 

The Backyard Homestead

Carleen Madigan shows you how to produce a variety of food for your family on as little as a quarter of an acre. She gives plans and detailed information on just how much space you need for different animals and garden crops. I learned so much from this inspiring book! An absolute must read for every backyard homesteader!

 

Making Vegetables

THE book for beginning gardeners!

This large book starts at the beginning to teach you how to garden in a fun, inspiring way. It is packed full of colorful pictures and solid information about growing vegetables organically.

This is by far the most fun and colorful gardening book we have found.

Making Vegetables is definitely a favorite of ours!

Highly recommended for beginning to intermediate gardeners!

 

I hope you enjoyed this article and found some inspiration for starting your new garden! What plants do you want to try growing? I’d love to hear in the comments!

 

-Kait