10 Easy-to-Grow Vegetables

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Radishes are one of 10 easy-to-grow vegetables for your garden this spring.

Whether you’re a beginner or a gardener who’s short on time, consider planting these 10 easy-to-grow vegetables that offer a big payoff in the kitchen. Some of these crops are best grown from seedlings, but most are easy to grow from seed. You can learn about different varieties by studying seed catalogs, which most companies send for free. One of our favorites, with a bounty of advice and beautiful color photos, is Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Visit the website or order a catalog, and start planning!

1. Salad Greens (arugula, lettuce, spinach, and corn salad). Pick your favorite, or try a mix—many seed companies sell mixed packets for summer and winter gardening. Plant seeds in spring and fall, and you can pick salads almost year-round.

2. Potatoes. Potatoes store well when kept cool. A simple and low-maintenance approach is to plant potatoes directly in straw (with just a little dirt added) rather than soil. “Seeds” are whole or cut sections of potatoes. Only plant organic potatoes or those sold in nurseries as seed potatoes. Conventional grocery-store potatoes are sprayed with an antisprouting agent.

3. Green Beans. Easy to grow and highly productive, green beans freeze well, and they’re delicious pickled as dilly beans. Start with seeds after danger of frost has passed.

4. Radishes. Radishes do well even in not-so-great soil, and they’re ready to harvest in only a few weeks. Plant seeds in spring and fall.

5. Onions. Start with small plants. If they do well, you can harvest bulb onions. If not, you can eat the greens.

6. Strawberries. Perfectly ripe strawberries are luscious, and the plants are surprisingly hardy. Buy bare-root plants from your local garden center in early spring. Put this perennial in a sunny spot and weed often.