When it comes to veggies, freshness is key, and what’s more fresh than growing your own? Fortunately, you don’t need a green thumb to grow a bounty of fresh vegetables right in your backyard or balcony. Whether you’re a gardening novice or just want to start a vegetable garden with the least amount of time and effort, here are the top almost-foolproof vegetables to grow.
Growing your vegetables is rewarding, healthy, and fun. But it can be daunting knowing how and where to start.
So, when you start growing veg for the first time, choose crops like courgettes, beans, beetroot, rocket, radish, chilies and potatoes. These require little maintenance, are ready to harvest within a short time, and suffer few pests and diseases.
Tips for Beginners
PICK THE RIGHT LOCATION
Picking a good location for your garden is key. A sub-par location can result in sub-par veggies! Here are a few tips for choosing a good site:
- Plant in a sunny location. Most vegetables need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. There are a few veggies that will tolerate some shade.
- Plant in moist, well-drained soil. If you have poorly drained soil (water pools), plant veggies in a raised bed. If you have rocky soil, till and remove the rocks.
- Plant in a stable environment. Avoid places that receive strong winds could knock over your young plants or keep pollinators from doing their job. Nor do you want to plant in a location that receives too much foot traffic or floods easily. Plant in a location that would make Goldilocks proud.
CHOOSING A PLOT SIZE: START SMALL!
One of the most common errors that beginners make is planting too much too soon—way more than anybody could ever eat or want! Unless you want to have zucchini taking up residence in your attic, plan your garden with care. Start small, and only grow what you know you’ll eat.
Here are some tips for a good-size beginner vegetable garden that can feed a family of four for one summer, with a little leftover for canning and freezing (or giving away to jealous neighbors).
- Make your garden 11 rows wide, with each row 10 feet long. The rows should run north and south to take full advantage of the sun.
- Make sure that you have paths that allow you to access your plants to weed and harvest. The general rule is: Don’t allow more than four feet of plants without access to them. Just make sure that you can reach the center of the row or bed easily.
Here are the recommended vegetables for beginners!
Tomatoes
These plants can go in every salad combination and they are definitely on our cost-effective plants. Tomatoes are very easy to grow and to get a juicy fruit, you must provide a sunny place in your garden and the best thing is that they don’t need large space or any special climatic conditions. To keep them fresh, after picking, store them at room temperature and you will always have fresh tomatoes.
Bell Peppers
Before you consider planting bell peppers in your garden, please bear in mind that they need to be planted in small pots before they can grow in your garden. You can always expect new growth as soon as you pick the peppers when they reach full size. You will always have storage of bell peppers and the investment in the plant will pay itself off.
Zucchini
This incredibly delicious plant is easy to grow, cheap to purchase, and extremely productive. Many people decide to plan zucchini because of its productivity, the only thing you need to bear in mind is that zucchini requires 2 inches of water a week, in case you don’t have a rainy period.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers like sunlight and warm temperatures, as well as support for climbing. Once you give them these and water them regularly, they grow almost like weeds. You’ll probably have enough cucumbers to donate to your neighbors. The National Gardening Association says bush (rather than vine) cucumbers are best for containers or small spaces and have good disease resistance.
Carrots
Carrots are famous for its numerous health benefits as well as its unique taste. This root veggie is pest-free and you can easily grow it at home. They just require sandy soil and little attention. The growth and planting of this veggie are zero in comparison to the benefits you will get from it and for a very low cost.
Turnips
Another two-in-one plant, turnips are grown for both their greens and root vegetables. Turnip greens are ready for harvest when they reach 2 inches tall. Smaller turnips are milder and sweeter tasting than those that grow larger.