10 of the easiest vegetables to grow in your garden

One of our favorite things about summer is working, playing and enjoying the beautiful bounty of our gardens. Whether it’s a freshly picked bouquet of flowers, or fresh crisp lettuce and juicy tomatoes, growing your own is one of the most comforting things that can happen.

Gardening can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. Even the most inexperienced gardener can successfully grow a garden with these 10 easy-to-grow vegetables.

If you are new to vegetable gardening, or need a little freshness this season, today’s post is for you. Here are 10 of the easiest vegetables to grow in your garden to ensure a successful harvest.You might also like How to Start an Herb Garden and an overview The best garden tools.

getting Started

use companion plants

Companion plants are flowers and vegetables that pair well together in the garden. They help promote healthy growth, reduce pests and attract pollinators. Some examples of companion plants are tomatoes and basil, garlic and potatoes, and nasturtiums and kale, cabbage or broccoli. Find companion plants for the vegetables you want to grow in your garden and plan accordingly!

designate a garden space

it is important to Find a great spot for your garden. You’ll want to make sure your plot is on flat land with good quality soil (not too sandy or sour), enough room to plant all the seeds you want to grow, and plenty of sunlight. You may also want to consider building a fence to keep critters out of your garden. If you’re making your own garden plot, you’ll want to make sure you use a rototiller to turn the soil in your garden and remove the top grass if needed.

prepare the soil

it is important to Make sure the soil in your garden will provide a healthy environment for your plants. If you notice worms in the soil, that’s a good sign. You can test the soil or observe its consistency. If it looks too sandy, you’ll want to add fertilizer to give it more nutrients. You can consult a local gardener to help determine what your soil needs to be successful.

Select Gardening Area

You can easily determine your gardening zone by doing a Google search for “gardening zone” using your zip code. You can visit your local garden store and ask the knowledgeable staff, or buy a book that goes deeper into your gardening area, for more information. It is important to know your area before planting to know what to plant and when. Different regions have different climates, and different plants thrive and struggle at different temperatures. Do your research before you start so your garden will be a success.

10 of the easiest vegetables to grow in your garden

lettuce

Lettuce is probably one of the easiest vegetables to grow and is a summer vegetable staple. There’s nothing like a refreshing salad on a hot summer day made with lettuce fresh from the garden. Lettuce grows well in cooler weather as a sown seed or as a starter plant with sprouts. If you don’t have options for an outdoor vegetable garden, lettuce has shallow roots, so it’s a great vegetable to grow in pots or on a windowsill. Try mixing several different types of lettuce and harvesting it when it is a few inches tall. Plant lettuce in late spring, followed by a fall harvest in late summer.

green beans

The only thing beans you have to worry about is overgrowing! We recommend seeding, as transplantation does not always work. If you choose pole beans, you’ll need a trellis for them to climb on as they grow. Again make sure not to plant until after the last frost and harvest them while they are still fresh. They will get tougher if you wait too long.

radish

I love crispy, sweet carrots fresh from the garden. They are always sweeter when fresh. Carrots can be a bit tricky to grow, but as long as the soil is kept moist and covered, they will do just fine. Also make sure not to plant carrots too early. Wait about two weeks after the last frost to put these babies in the ground!

cucumber

Another heat-loving plant, cucumbers grow on vines that require space and trellises to climb. Be sure to grow these plants from seed, as transplants can be finicky. Again, wait until the last frost to plant seeds. We love the round, yellow and mini varieties!

kale

Vermonters love the hardiness of kale because it can withstand our wild seasonal climate. Some kale can even survive the winter and will start growing again in the spring. This is another crop you’ll want to plant in mid-spring and then again in late summer for a fall harvest. Sow kale seeds directly in the ground or use transplants, both work great!

swiss chard

I only recently became a Swiss chard fan when my dad shared some from his garden last summer. It is delicious cooked in a pan with butter or olive oil. Swiss chard is another vigorous plant whose leaves can get very large if you don’t harvest them soon. This will continue to produce leaves until the first frost as long as you keep picking them. If you live in a hot climate, try giving your beets some afternoon shade to help it continue growing until the first frost.

Zucchini (zucchini)

Zucchini or zucchini always make for a fun surprise in late summer or early fall. It’s always exciting to gather a good harvest and pull out all your favorite seasonal pumpkin recipes. Pumpkins are easy to grow and usually do well, so you’ll have enough to keep you fed all season long. You can plant them as seeds or transplants as soon as the last frost has passed. Just be sure to pick them off before they get too big.

beet

Beets are a beautiful root vegetable to add to your garden, and they tend to be super hardy, so they’re easy to add. Unlike others in this post, beets can be planted in early spring, and you can continue to plant them every two to three weeks until midsummer to continue enjoying a full season’s harvest.

tomato

We buy a variety of tomato transplants every spring and they are one of my favorite tomatoes to grow and harvest in late summer. Tomatoes are technically a fruit, but I’m including them here because you’ll most likely want to include them in your vegetable garden. Tomatoes love heat, so you want to make sure they get plenty of direct sunlight. Cherry tomatoes are easy for beginners to grow, you just need to make sure you get stakes or cages to help guide the growth. Be sure to wait until after the last frost to plant tomatoes.

black pepper

Peppers are another of my favorite plants to grow. I personally find it easiest to buy transplants and plant after the last frost. You can also grow your own plants indoors from scratch and grow them when the weather is warm enough. Peppers love heat just like tomatoes, so you’ll want to make sure you keep them in a warm, sunny spot!

Other Gardening Tips

consider composting

Composting benefits the environment by reducing the amount of waste Your family produces weekly and it also makes amazing fertilizer for your garden. Compost adds great nutrients to your soil, keeps weeds at bay and adds moisture to the soil. It does take time for the compost to break down enough to be added to the soil.learn more about How to start composting here.

Fertilizing and watering

Be sure to add fertilizer to your soil at the beginning of the season and then every three to four weeks throughout the season. This will help keep the soil nourished and plants happy all season long. Continue to water the garden regularly.

Monitoring and Weeding

Keeping it on top of the garden all season can be one of the most challenging parts. Continue to maintain Monitoring soil, moisture, harvesting crops, reseeding and weeding will be much easier to manage. A little daily maintenance goes a long way.

reward

The best part of gardening is reaping the rewards of your hard work and harvesting delicious vegetables. Be sure to keep up with your harvest as the season progresses. Overgrowing creates waste, and vegetables can rot or lose flavor when they grow too large. Enjoy those delicious fresh veggies!

Let us know what you planted this summer!