Get Started with Gardening: The Easiest Vegetables to Grow

Gardening is a hobby that’s picked up a lot of traction over the past several years. From people being stuck at home with nothing to do, to rising food prices, people are looking for an alternative that makes sense.

For people with space and time, gardening gives them that option. Reports show that 62% of current gardeners plan to plant even more.

Finding the easiest vegetables to grow is critical if you want to see success as a new gardener. Below are some of the best options for creating a vegetable garden.

Lettuce

Lettuce is one of the first vegetables people grow — and for a good reason. Once you plant it in the ground, it doesn’t take much effort for it to grow.

Additionally, lettuce has a pruning method that allows you to cut the outside layer of the lettuce and keep it growing. This will allow you to extend your lettuce harvests and get more output from your plants.

Of course, you can wait until a lettuce head finishes growing to harvest it. In this case, you’ll get a lettuce head like you usually get in the store.

Spinach

Greens are among a favorite for people creating a backyard garden. They’re one of the more expensive purchases in the store, so people try growing this fresh produce at home to save money.

The good thing is that spinach and other greens are easy to grow. Spinach is very much like lettuce. You direct sow seeds in well-drained soil in as much sun as possible.

Another great thing about spinach is that it’s cold-tolerant. You can grow it throughout much of the year. It can even survive an occasional frost in cooler months.

Herbs

Herbs are one of the first vegetables people grow in their gardens. One of the great things about them is that they don’t need much attention. Additionally, you can plant them indoors on a windowsill without building a garden outside.

The thing about herbs is that they are costly in stores. You spend a small fortune on them and throw a lot of them out because you can’t use them all in time.

Since you can grow herbs easily inside, you can get herbs year-round. You can grow them in a sunny window or put them in a hydroponics solution with an LED light to put them anywhere in the house. All of this is at a significantly reduced cost.

Some common herbs people grow are Basic, Dill, Thyme, and Cilantro.

Green Beans

One problem some new gardeners have when starting for the first time is poor soil quality. Even if they can build an in-ground garden or a raised garden bed, they can’t get anything to grow because of the soil.

A lot of this is because of poor nitrogen content. Many plants need nitrogen-rich soil for nutrients. Without that, you won’t have healthy plants.

Green beans work a little differently. They produce nitrogen and send it into the soil instead of consuming it. This means they’re easy to grow in bad areas and will fix your soil for future plantings.

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are a fan favorite in the gardening world. People love the vining nature of the plant and build scaffolding around them to help them grow up into the air.

Although you should plant cucumbers in the summer when it’s warmer, you’ll get a lot of harvest from them. As long as you give them room to grow and spread, you’ll see flowers spread everywhere and form cucumbers.

You can also put cucumbers in containers if you wish. Just be sure to put places for the vines to grow to allow the plant to grow to its full potential.

Root Vegetables

Root vegetables and their various varieties are easy for beginner gardeners to grow. One of the big differences with these is that the primary food is underground instead of above. You won’t necessarily eat the leaves or flowers from these.

There is a variety of these to consider:

• Carrots
• Radishes
• Beets
• Onions
• Garlic
• Potatoes

There are many others and sub-varieties. Each has its own ideal planting climate and nutritional needs. Look at each one to determine which ones will work best for your garden or container.

Peppers

Peppers are another vegetable that costs a lot of money at the store, so it’s another tempting option for people building home gardens. Luckily, it’s not too hard to grow peppers in your yard.

Many people start with traditional sweet peppers. You can grow green, red, orange, and yellow peppers easier.

But there are also many other types of peppers besides these. Many people specialize in growing hot peppers. You can grow many inexpensive hot peppers yearly that would otherwise cost a lot of money to purchase individually.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are often the first thing people think of when looking at backyard gardens — and with good reason. They’re usually one of the first plants people grow.

Backyard tomatoes are also far tastier than their store counterparts. Store tomatoes go through an artificial ripening process, so you don’t get the full flavor in the kitchen.

Like cucumbers, you need the proper setup to grow tomatoes properly. Give them something to attach to so they can grow higher and produce more output.

Easiest Vegetables to Grow: Create a Garden Today

It can be intimidating to start a garden. You’re investing in a project that lasts the summer and may make mistakes that result in failure. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try and see what you can do.

A great way to improve your chances of success is by starting with the easiest vegetables to grow. Now that you know what those vegetables are, create a backyard garden to help you enjoy homegrown food all summer.

Do you want to read more advice that will help you tackle more home projects? Check out the blog to read more guides.