11 Easy Vegetables to Grow in Your Own Yard or Garden
You'll be amazed by how great homegrown vegetables can taste.
Growing your own vegetables is easy! Anyone can start a vegetable garden or grow an herb garden with a little planning and a few supplies.
All you need is some dirt to grow in and some seeds. Even a few pots on your porch or windowsill will work. And it's very satisfying to eat something you grew yourself!
To give your vegetables a good start, find a spot in "full sun," meaning it gets 6 or more hours of direct sunlight per day.
Most vegetables will not do well in shady areas. If you don’t have space for garden beds (or don't want to/aren't able to dig into the ground), use containers or build or install raised beds.
They will increase your growing space if you have a compact yard, you can move pots exactly where you need them, and many vegetables grow very well in containers
Lots of vegetables grow easily from seed, and seed costs just a few dollars a package. But be aware that some plants, such as tomatoes and peppers, love hot weather.
Related: 11 Things Beginners Should Know Before Starting a Vegetable Garden
In cold climates, you won’t have enough time to raise heat-lovers from seed if you have a short growing season, so opt for seedlings from local nurseries or online vendors. Otherwise, you’ll run out of growing season before your crops come to maturity. (If you want to get a jumpstart, here’s how to start your own veggies indoors from seed).
Here are the absolute easiest veggies to grow in your garden:
Lettuce
Why plant lettuce?
It grows easily from seed, is fast-growing, and inexpensive to care for. Use your lettuce in our summer salad recipes.
If you’re tired of buying packaged salad blends at the grocery store (which go bad the second you get them home!), lettuce is a great choice for your garden.
Many types are ready to harvest in as little as 30 days, and you can snip off baby leaves as needed.
Mesclun, or mixed greens, are especially appealing because you’ll get many varieties in one seed package. Sow seeds in beds or containers (a window box works well because they have shallow roots), and keep moist until germination.
Annual Herbs
Why plant annual herbs?
Herbs are easy-to-grow, prolific producers, and it's cheaper than buying fresh herbs
Add zing to any meal with fresh herbs snipped from your garden. Good starter herbs include savory, dill, cilantro and basil, which is available in many different varieties.
But basil is one of the few herbs that sometimes struggles with diseases such as downy mildew and leaf spot, so look for newer types, such as columnar basil, which is more disease-resistant.
Learn more:
Beans
Why plant beans?
They're prolific producers, grow fast, and there are many different types. Try these green bean recipes.
You can grow bush beans, which keep a more compact, bushy shape, or pole beans, which require a trellis to climb.
Both types are fast-growing, though pole beans produce for a slightly longer period.
Plant the seeds directly into the garden after all danger of frost has passed. When the beans are ready to pick, make sure you check your plants every day because the more you pick, the more they’ll produce!
Swiss Chard
Why plant Swiss chard?
It has a long harvest period, looks beautiful, and is versatile in the kitchen. (Try it in this lamb bake.)
This often overlooked green is a must-have in your garden.
Chard is as easy to grow as lettuce, and its striking bright yellow, white, orange or red ribs and deep green leaves are pretty enough to plant in pots alongside ornamental flowers.
Swiss chard doesn’t mind cool weather, so you’ll enjoy your crop well into fall, especially if you plant seeds a few weeks apart.
Cherry Tomatoes
Why plant cherry tomatoes?
They're prolific and typically easier to grow than other tomatoes. There are also many different varieties to choose from.
Cherry tomatoes yield oodles and oodles of sweet, little tomatoes once they start ripening. Plant tomatoes after all danger of frost has passed.
There’s a range of types from red, chocolate speckled, yellow, and orange with shapes varying from round to grape-like.
Read the tag to know what type you’re buying: Determinate types top out around 3 to 4 feet tall, while indeterminate vines can reach 10 feet or more. Both types will require support with a trellis or tomato cage.
Read More: How to Grow Tomatoes
Perennial Herbs
Why plant perennial herbs?
Far cheaper than buying herbs, these plants will yield all the herbs you want for many years.
Many herbs come back year after year, so they’re a great long-term investment in your garden. Perennial herbs do well in ground or in containers, though you may need to shelter pots in an unheated shed or the garage over winter so the roots don’t freeze.
Reliable perennial herbs include thyme, chives, oregano, sage, mint, and tarragon.
In warm climates, rosemary is a perennial. In the rest of the country, it’s considered an annual.
Learn more: 20 Best Perennial Herbs
Cucumbers
Why plant cucumbers?
Whether you're making salads or pickles, cucumbers are crispest when freshly harvested. They're another prolific producer, so you'll be sure to get a lot out of each plant!
Once you’ve tasted cucumbers harvested from your back yard, you’ll never want to buy them again.
Plant seeds directly into beds once all danger of frost has passed; baby cucumber plants tolerate zero cold snaps, so don’t plant too early in the season.
Cukes produce quickly, usually within 60 days, and the more you pick, they more they’ll produce!
Some types are bushier, but most need a trellis for support. Make sure to plant flowers, such as sweet alyssum, nearby to attract pollinators because cucumbers require pollination to form fruit.
Learn more: How to Grow Cucumbers
Peppers
Why plant peppers?
Peppers are also crispest when fresh from the garden. And there are dozens of varieties, from super sweet, to smoking hot!
Peppers produce tons of fruit if you give them what they want: Heat, heat, and more heat. Plant seedlings after all danger of frost has passed.
There are many different sweet or hot varieties.
Many types of peppers can be picked green for a more bitter flavor, or let to ripen to red, orange, or yellow, depending on the variety, for a sweeter fruit.
Kale
Why plant kale?
Kale is hearty and also cold-tolerant, so you can harvest well into fall. Some types can even survive winter and return the next spring. Here are some great recipes for kale.
Kale is a super-food, but it’s also a super plant!
Like other greens, it’s easy to grow from seed. It’s available in many different types, so if you aren’t fond of the texture of curly kale, opt for types such as Red Russian, which have tender baby leaves that are delish in salads.
Summer Squash
Why plant summer squash?
Zucchini and other summer squash are very prolific producers. And they're delicious in all kinds of zucchini and summer squash recipes.
Summer squash is the rock star of the garden: If it’s happy in its location, it just won’t stop producing.
Two to three plants will provide plenty of squash for your family and the neighbors!
Make sure you have enough garden space to grow squash because most varieties require 4 to 5 feet to spread out, though you can train them up a trellis.
Also, make sure to plant flowers, such as sweet alyssum, nearby to attract pollinators because squash requires pollination to form fruit.
Arugula
Why plant arugula?
If you love an arugula salad this quick plant is worth having. It's much less expensive and tastes much better fresh!
One package of seeds will yield weeks of harvests. It prefers cool weather, so plant it early in the spring and again in the late summer for a fall harvest.
Arricca Elin SanSone has written about health and lifestyle topics for Prevention, Country Living, Woman's Day, and more. She’s passionate about gardening, baking, reading, and spending time with the people and dogs she loves.
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