Gardening is a fun, environmentally friendly hobby and way to eat healthy.
However, if executed poorly, gardening can also be extremely frustrating, and the costs can get out of hand quickly. If you are one of the many Americans wondering what are the easiest vegetables to grow, this list is for you.
There are many vegetables that are cheap and easy to grow, and they are more likely than not to quickly bloom into delicious and healthy veggies.
What are the 10 Easiest Vegetables to Grow?
Check out our round up of the best vegetables to grow for new gardeners.
Green Beans
Perhaps the easiest vegetable to grow in a home garden is bush green beans. These beans grow, you guessed it, on a bush and are easily harvested.
Green beans need plenty of water and sunlight, but as long as they are decently cared for, they will sprout in about eight weeks.
Good companion plants for green beans include radishes and peas, so this trifecta is a great way to try your hand at easy-to-grow vegetables.
Lettuce
Another very easy vegetable to grow is lettuce. With many Americans trying to eat healthier, growing your own lettuce is a great start for a filling, nutrient-packed salad.
Lettuce grows best when the weather is cooler, so it is ideal to plant in the spring or early fall. After planting, you should be able to harvest your lettuce leaves after about 70 days.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers are a versatile vegetable to grow on your own as they are delicious fresh from the garden, and they can be jarred with vinegar and some dill to make pickles.
Cucumbers are vine plants, so they need a bit more space than some of the other veggies on this list. Creating a trellis is a great way to manage your cucumber vines.
Best grown in the summer, if you plant your cucumbers in late spring you will have an abundance of cucumbers all season long.
Beets
Beets don’t need to be in direct sunlight to flourish, and they actually prefer cooler temperatures. This makes them one of the easiest to grow vegetables.
Beets actually aren’t affected if they are sown and then the spring frosts, so the novice gardener doesn’t have to worry about ruining their beet crop.
These plants require 6 to 10 weeks to flourish but typically yield 15 pounds of produce for every 10 feet of seeds.
Kale
Growing your own kale, the last leafy green on the list, can save you a lot of money. Kale grows quickly—the typical harvest time is only six weeks—so you can begin to enjoy your hard gardening work quickly.
Kale grows best when it’s planted in direct sunlight and soil that drains relatively well.
Summer Squash
Squash is another one of the easiest vegetables to grow. If you are going to plant squash, be sure to monitor the weather. Squash needs ample amounts of sunlight, so it is best to wait until late spring to plant it.
Squash grows along a vine, so you can use a trellis if you want. However, squash will also do just fine if left to run along the ground.
Blooming into a fully ripe vegetable after about two months, squash can be picked and eaten once it has turned yellow.
Bell Peppers
Bell peppers are another veggie that thrives in the heat. Wait until late spring or early summer to begin planting these vegetables. Bell peppers can be planted alongside other vegetables and herbs like onions, carrots, and basil.
Experts recommend buying bell pepper seedlings from your local plant nursery and then planting them in your garden. Bell peppers need to be placed in direct sunlight and require regular watering.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are a lot of people’s first go-to plant when they think about starting a home garden. As they should be! Tomatoes don’t require much space, so they are adaptable to any garden size.
Tomatoes grow quickly, and the plant will continue to flourish if cared for properly.
Radishes
Another fast-growing vegetable, radishes can be harvested within 30 days of planting. They can also be planted relatively early compared to tomatoes and peppers; as soon as the soil is thawed, you can begin planting them.
Radishes also grow well when the seeds are dispersed among carrot seeds, as the radishes prepare the soil for the carrots to sprout later in the season.
Carrots
Vegetable number 10 on our list is carrots. Carrots, like radishes, should be directly sown into loose soil. Once planted, carrots need plenty of sun and water to germinate and sprout.
Carrots don’t require much else, and they can be planted in the spring, summer, and even fall. They sprout in as short as two months, so if you start planting them early, you can enjoy fresh carrots throughout the summer and autumn seasons.
Explore a New Gardening Career
Gardening is a great way to get outdoors and ensure there are plenty of healthy foods in your house. If you find yourself wondering what are the easiest vegetables to grow, you can take a class like ours at Stratford Career Institute to hone your skills.
Our gardening and landscaping course will cover the basics and enable you to garden smartly and efficiently.
Enhance Your Gardening Skills Today!
Take a look at Stratford Career Institute’s gardening and landscaping course today to learn how to garden smartly and efficiently.