Given the proper care and conditions, most vegetables are not difficult to grow. However, some are simpler than others. If you’re new to gardening or want to get the kids involved, you’ll want to start with easy vegetables to grow.
There are a lot of factors that determine how easy or difficult certain plants are to grow. Your soil type, sun exposure, and natural rainfall can all have an impact on what plants are easy to grow in your particular garden. So what’s easy to grow for one gardener, may be a huge challenge for another just by virtue of their different circumstances.
However, there are some vegetables that are easier to grow in most gardens for most gardeners. These are the ones you should try if you’re a beginner starting your very first vegetable gardenbefore expanding your plot. Not sure what qualifies as an easy vegetable to grow? I’ll share the most beginner-friendly vegetables almost anyone can grow.
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Tips for an Easy Vegetable Garden
Before selecting your vegetables, you need to think about some vegetable gardening basics first.
- Location: Prior to planting, you need to consider site selection for your vegetable garden. Almost all vegetables require sun, so you’ll need a site that receives at least 6 hours of direct sun per day.
- Water: Veggies also need at least an inch (2.5 cm) of water through rain or irrigation per week depending upon weather conditions. Consider how you are going to water your vegetable garden and where the water is coming from. Is the garden near a hose or outside tap? Are you going to set up a drip irrigation kit, like this one from Home Depotuse soaker hoses, or are you going to lug around a watering can?
- Weeds: The other key consideration is weeding. Vegetables don’t do well with weed competition. Are you going to cultivate or hand weed on a regular basis to ensure weeds don’t take hold? If not, are you going to grow through black plastic or mulch to slow down weeds?
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Once you have your veggie garden area prepped, it’s time to plant. Before investing in seeds or starts, make sure you know what you want to plant and that your choice works for your USDA zone. Also, be sure to read the seed packet and make sure your growing season is long enough for the crop to come to fruition.
Easy Vegetables to Grow
Whether you’re a Master Gardener, a novice, or just want a low-maintenance crop, look for easy vegetables to grow at home. What qualifies a veggie as easy to grow? A number of factors combine to make one vegetable easier to grow than another.
First, look for low-maintenance vegetables. These are veggies that require little more than planting a seed and occasionally watering. Your search should also include vegetables that are disease and pest resistant. Botanical Interests is a great place to find vegetable seeds that are resistant to a variety of diseases.
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Select veggies that are drought tolerant as well. All seeds need to be kept moist to germinate, but once established, some veggies can survive and even thrive with little supplemental moisture. Burpee offers a wide selection of heat and drought tolerant vegetables.
Speed is another factor when considering an easy vegetable to grow. This is especially true if children are involved. You want to keep their attention focused until harvest, so fast-growing vegetables show progress on a nearly daily basis. This helps show the magic of food production from seed to table.
Of course, the most important consideration when choosing which vegetables to grow is which ones you want to eat. To help get you started, determining which veggies you want to grow, here’s a list of the best easy-to-grow vegetables for beginners.
1. Lettuce
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Lettuce of any sort is one of the easiest crops to grow. Lettuce can be grown in a container and is a quick crop to grow, ready within about 6 weeks from sowing.
There are only two things difficult about growing lettuce: bolting and snails/slugs. Plant lettuces early in the spring when temps are cool, look for bolt-resistant varieties, and protect delicate plants from the ravages of slugs and snails.
‘Little Caesar’ lettuce, which is exclusive to Burpeeis a favorite among gardeners because it’s so easy to grow.
2. Radishes
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Radishes are another super easy crop to grow and again, a rapidly growing crop – ready in a month or so. These peppery root veggies like cool temperatures and should be sown in the spring or all.
Radishes come in a variety of pretty colors, and are fairly pest resistant and frost tolerant. Burpee has tons of tasty radishesbut if you’re looking for a fast-growing type then ‘Pink Beauty’ is your best bet. It’s ready to harvest in only 22 days!
3. Green Beans
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Green beans might seem daunting but they are anything but. Green beansboth bush and pole varieties are easy to grow although pole beans will need a trellis or other support.
Ready for harvest in about 50-60 days, beans thrive in poor soils while improving it as they fix nitrogen into the soil for the successive year’s crops.
‘Contender’ bush beans from Sow Right Seeds on Amazon are a great beginner option. They’re the classic green bean and easy to grow.
4. Beets
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Colorful beets are yet another on our list of easy vegetables to grow at home. Beets should always be directly sown in full sun, ½ inch (1 cm) deep and spaced 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm) apart. Thin to 3-4 inches apart.
Beets are ready to harvest after about 2 months. And remember, the beet leaves are edible too! Try ‘Early Wonder’ organic beets from Burpee for plants that are edible from top to bottom.
5. Zucchini
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Zucchini squash and other summer squash varieties grow rapidly and are prolific producers. They require well-draining, nutrient rich soil in full sun. Once the plants take hold, they grow by leaps and bounds, so quickly it’s difficult to keep up with the harvest!
When I was a beginner gardener (and ever since), I had great success with the ‘Black Beauty’ zucchini seeds from Burpee. They remain viable for a long time, too. I grew expired seeds from my very first packet for at least 5 years.
6. Spaghetti Squash
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On the subject of squash, the winter spaghetti squash is another hugely productive crop that is highly resistant to pests and diseases. Plus, it’s just fun to eat. You will need room for the vine to grow, but it can clamber up almost any structure and can even be pruned to slow rampant growth.
Get spaghetti squash seeds for just a few bucks on Amazon. They’re totally worth it for all the delicious meals you’re going to enjoy all next winter.
7. Carrots
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As long as you don’t obsess over the perfect ramrod straight carrot, growing carrots is delightfully simple and fun. Getting them to grow perfectly straight does take a bit more work, however. If you don’t mind twisted or forked carrot roots then this is an easy crop for you that can be sown in both the spring and fall.
Short carrots, like the ‘Short n Sweet’ variety from Burpee are good for beginner gardeners and impatient gardeners because they grow faster.
8. Tomatoes
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Our last easy to grow veggie on the list might come as a bit of a surprise. It’s one of the most popular veggies grown and with good reason. It’s incredibly versatile and can be cooked, eaten raw, pickled, canned, stewed, roasted, anything your heart desires! We’re talking tomatoes.
Yes, certain tomatoes may be susceptible to pests and diseases and can be picky about their growing conditions. But all of them are well worth the effort. Plus, nowadays there are tons of pest and disease-resistant tomatoes available from Botanical Interests and so many other seed retailers.
Select small grape or cherry tomato varieties to grow in containers. Look for disease and pest resistant cultivars. The kids will love handpicking these tiny red globes.
There are so many delicious types of tomatoes to choose from. But if you’re new to veggie gardening or just looking for big results with little effort, choose a reliable bestselling tomato like ‘Big Boy’ or ‘Early Girl’ from Burpee.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of easy to grow veggies. Your local nursery, extension officeor even neighbor may also have some insight into not only what type of crop to grow, but also what varieties will thrive in your area.
Shop Veggie Gardening Essentials
Burpee Superseed Seed Starting Tray
Invest in a reusable seed starting tray that you can keep using year after year for your veggies.
Miracle-Gro Indoor Potting Mix for Seed Starting
Easy growing starts with good soil. I always have healthy and strong plants when I use Miracle-Gro.
Jobe’s Organics Granular Garden Fertilizer
Set seedlings up for success by giving them a dose of an organic granular fertilizer like this at transplant.
