If you are just starting out in the world of gardening, but don’t know where to begin, here are 11 vegetables that are easy to grow. Just be careful, because gardening can be addicting!
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Vegetables don’t have to be that difficult to grow.
Even if you only have a container to plant something in, a raised bed, or you have 1/4 acre to play with, there are veggies that can grow in any of those places!
When looking for seeds, seedling plants, or starts, always try to use heirloom or non-gmo seeds and plants.
If you can, finding seeds and plants that are organic, as well as, non-gmo is best.
If you have never gardened before and don’t know where to start, just pick one vegetable and try growing it this year.
Add another next year and soon you will be on your way to being a confident gardener.
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1. Tomatoes
Usually one of the first vegetables that you may think about when thinking about starting a garden is the tomato.
This is for good reason too! Tomatoes are not hard to grow and the taste difference between your homegrown tomatoes and store bought tomatoes will blow you away.
My family’s all time favorite variety of tomato is the german pink tomato. The pink flesh is so full of flavor and juice that you will be blown away!
And a bonus is that these pink tinged tomatoes grow to be fairly large, much bigger than a grocery store tomato.
Start your own seeds or buy some seedlings at the beginning of the year to make it growing tomatoes even easier.
Varieties to try: German Pink, Cherokee Purple, Roma, Red Cherry
2. Lettuce
Lettuce is an easy vegetable to grow, however, you do need to keep a good eye on it because it will bolt very quickly.
It is best to grow lettuce in the cooler months, as that will produce the most tender lettuce and will lessen the chances of the lettuce bolting.
If you are new to growing lettuce, try starting with a loose leaf variety instead of an iceberg type lettuce, as they can be more difficult and time consuming to grow.
Varieties to try: Red Romaine, Buttercrunch, Simpson
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3. Beets
If I had to choose what I think is the easiest vegetable to grow, the humble beet would probably be it.
The only problem with growing beets is that a lot of people don’t like their earthy flavor.
However, they are very healthy and easy to grow, not to mention they even come in several fun colors and varieties!
Varieties to try: Detroit Dark Red, Detroit Golden, or try a variety pack
4. Cucumbers
Cucumbers are easy to grow and have a large variety of ways to be eaten.
From learning how to make pickles to fresh cucumbers with homemade ranch, there is literally a cucumber for everything!
There are two broad categories of cucumbers, pickling and slicing.
Cucumbers grow best on a trellis, but don’t worry it doesn’t have to be anything fancy!
Varieties to try: Pickling, Slicing
![dried green beans on a string](https://harmonymeadowhomestead.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11-Easy-to-Grow-Vegetables-for-Beginner-Gardeners-5-1024x768.jpg)
5. Green Beans
Green beans are very easy and cheap vegetable to grow.
Homegrown green beans are absolutely delicious and are also an easy veggie to learn how to can with.
You can choose from different varieties of classic bush beans or pole beans.
Varieties to try: Green Bush, Kentucky Wonder Pole, Cherokee Wax Bush (yellow)
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6. Potatoes
The humble potato is easy to grow and is so versatile to cook, making it a good starter crop.
However, potatoes often attract potato bugs within the second year of growing them.
You may need to use a natural form of bug repellant such as red pepper flakes or picking the bugs off.
Varieties to try: Yukon Gold, Blue Adirondack, Red Pontiac
7. Summer Squash
Summer squash is a very easy and abundant crop to grow.
Plant just a few plants of this bright yellow soft fleshed squash and you will have plenty to eat all summer long.
If you are new to summer squash, it is a vegetable that can be prepared as you would zucchini. However, it is usually better in savory dishes than sweet dishes.
Varieties to try: Yellow Crookneck
![zucchini on a platter](https://harmonymeadowhomestead.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/How-to-Make-Perfectly-Sauteed-Zucchini-3-768x1024.jpg)
8. Zucchini
Zucchini, like summer squash, is super easy to grow and it also produces a very abundant harvest.
You will probably only want to grow a few zucchini plants unless you want to have lots of zucchini to eat and share.
Zucchini can be made into so many things such as sweet cakes, muffins, cookies, savory boats or just fried in butter.
Varieties to try: Black Beauty
9. Kale
If you live in a colder climate, kale and you will get along great!
This year in southern Wisconsin we had a mild start to our winter with very little snow.
My parents had kale that was still growing well into December, even after they brush hogged off their garden!
Varieties to try: Dinosaur (Lacinato), Curly Leaf
![buttercup squash](https://harmonymeadowhomestead.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Homemade-Healthy-Pumpkin-Butter-Recipe-2.jpg)
10. Winter Squash
Thankfully winter squash is not too hard to grow, because it is just one of those vegetables you need to have in your pantry for the winter!
If you plant pumpkins, squash, or gourds you will just want to make sure that you don’t plant them too close together or they may cross pollinate and you will have some goofy squakins. 🙂
Varieties to try: Butternut, Buttercup, Acorn
11. Peas
The easiest kind of peas to grow and harvest are the kind that you can eat the whole pod.
Try a sugar snap pea for a sweet, tender pea pod that is delicious raw in salads or cooked in a stir fry.
Varieties to try: Oregon Sugar Pod, Sugar Daddy Snap
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12. Red Raspberries (bonus)
Though technically, you probably won’t be planting raspberries in your vegetable garden, I highly recommend starting them somewhere!
Red raspberries require minimal effort to plant and grow. They will come back year after year, growing thicker and fuller every year.
Note: it is much easier to grow red raspberries from a start, so shop around at your local plant center to find some, or better yet, a friend who has an established patch.
Varieties to try: Red Raspberries, Yellow Raspberries
Pin it for later
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What did you start with when first beginning a garden?
Let us know what you thought was easiest to grow when you first started a vegetable garden!
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