10 Easy Vegetables to Grow for Beginner Gardeners

Growing your own vegetables can be a fun and rewarding experience. It’s a great way to get fresh, healthy produce right from your own backyard. But for beginners, the idea of starting a garden can be overwhelming. Luckily, there are easy-to-grow vegetables that are perfect for those just starting out.

Whether you have a lot of space, not much space, a ton of time, or little time you can definitely grow your own food. Even if you don’t have a green thumb, there are vegetables even beginners can grow successfully, boosting their confidence.

Plenty of easy to grow vegetables exist for the inexperience to the experienced To help you get started and have the best garden ever, I’ve compiled a list of the easiest vegetables to grow for even the most novice gardener.

10 Easy to Grow Vegetables for the Beginning Gardener

While by far not a complete list, these are some of the most common and easiest to grow vegetables to start your self-sufficient vegetable garden with.

1. Radishes

Radishes are one of the quickest and easiest to grow vegetables, even for new gardeners. Once they sprout, which happens very quickly, they’re almost impossible to kill and fairly insect-resistant.

Like most root vegetables, they prefer sandy, moist soil. However, radishes will grow despite rocky soil conditions.

Wet the soil and direct sow radish seeds about 1/2″ down and an inch apart. After they’ve sprouted thin them to 2-3″ apart.

Radishes can be grown in containers, but they do not have to be deep unless you’re growing daikon which can reach a foot or more in length.

They will require about an inch of water per week, slightly more if the soil is sandy.

Radishes grow very quickly. You’ll no more than sow them and have them sprouting up. Most varieties are typically ready to harvest in 20 to 30 days.

If you leave radishes in the ground too long, they won’t taste very good. They’re ready to harvest any time they’re big enough to harvest (when the tops get large enough to pull them out).

This is a great crop to utilize for succession planting in the spring and again in the fall. They are frost-hardy, but they do not like extreme heat.

Radish varieties to try: French breakfast, early Scarlet globe, Easter Egg, crimson giant, and hailstone.

2. Carrots

While not as pest resistant as the radish due to the carrot fly growing carrots is pretty easy.

Grown with the most success in the spring and fall, carrots prefer loose, well-drained, sandy soil. They are an excellent candidate for containers, even five-gallon buckets, and raised garden beds where you can control the soil composition.

Like radishes, carrot seeds are directly sown in rows of raked soil about a foot apart. It is best to thin them out once they begin to sprout so you have large, well-shaped carrots. To thin, just leave one carrot top every two to three inches, this will result in the best harvest.

Try not to sow too thickly as the thinning process can attract the carrot fly, which is really the only pest carrots have. However, you can use row covers to help deter pests from getting into your crop.

Carrots are generally ready to harvest when the tops of the root are beginning to creep above the surface and are about as large as your thumb. The greens can be harvested at any time (yes the greens are edible).

Carrots take approximately 60 to 80 days to grow to maturity. The seeds can take anywhere between a week and three weeks to germinate, so don’t fret if you don’t see anything in the first few days sprouting up.

Carrot varieties to try: black nebula, Atomic Red, Purple Dragon, Amarillo, and St. Valery.

3. Tomatoes

While a lot of folks may consider tomatoes a more advanced gardening endeavor, growing tomatoes is actually pretty easy.

There are vining varieties that will require a tomato trellis and bush varieties that can be grown in small spaces, even pots.

Tomato seeds are started indoors in the early spring and are then transplanted outdoors to a sunny spot with well-draining soil after the threat of frost is passed.

Tomatoes love heat and shouldn’t be transplanted outdoors until temperatures don’t dip below 50°F at night. Ideally, you’ll want temperatures to be in the 60 to 90°F range.

Depending on the variety, tomato plants can take anywhere from two to over three months to reach maturity. Depending on whether you plant determinate or indeterminate tomatoes they can produce all summer, or have a single, large crop.

Tomato varieties to try: Amish paste, German lunchbox, Mortgage lifter, Purple Cherokee, Black Cherry Tomatoes.

4. Green Beans

Another direct sown plant, growing green beans is easy and they are very productive. There are two varieties, bush type and pole type and they both have their pros and cons.

Green beans, whether bush beans or pole beans will require well-draining soil and full sunlight to grow. They need adequate water or the plants will quickly shrivel up.

Beans require nitrogen to grow well. Placing alfalfa pellets along the row when sowing seeds will help slowly release nitrogen into the surrounding soil as the pellets break down in wet conditions. Poop from meat rabbits will also do the same thing and this can be directly added to the garden as the manure is not hot.

Sow seeds in late spring/early summer when the soil temperature is warm and air temperatures are around 55 to 85°F.

They will take approximately one to two weeks to germinate. If it’s particularly hot, providing partial shade via nature or shade cloth will help them out, otherwise, full sun is perfectly fine.

Beans are ready to harvest when they’re full, but not bursting. This takes approximately 55 to 65 days. You can place them in the freezer until you have enough to can green beans for a shelf-stable option, or you can blanch and freeze them long-term.

Green bean varieties to try: Cantare, Calima, Contender, Blue Lake Bush.

5. Zucchini

Zucchini is one of the most easy vegetables to grow. While they aren’t completely resistant to squash bugs, they are hardy, easy to grow, and prolific producers.

One or two zucchini plants will be enough for most families. While they can be directly sown, it is a good idea to start them indoors as it will help avoid damage from squash bugs that love to feed on the young plants.

While not particularly picky, zucchini does like warm, moist soil that is high in organic matter, so be sure to water frequently. Plant seedlings in soil topped with compost for the best results.

Zucchini plants will need a lot of room to sprawl or a trellis to maintain them. Be sure to leave plenty of space between and around all these bountiful squash.

Plant in a spot that receives full sun. Most varieties will take approximately 55 days to produce and are best harvested when small and tender around 6 to 8 inches long.

Zucchini varieties to try: Black beauty, Gray, Fordhook, Golden.

6. Cucumbers

I love fresh cucumbers. A tiny bit of sea salt and that delicious crunch is all I need. They’re also great for making bread and butter pickles and dill pickles.

Like beans, cucumbers come in both bush and vine varieties. Bush cucumbers are just as prolific as vine and can be grown in less space if you don’t have a large garden. I grow both and don’t have a preference other than not needing a trellis to support the bush varieties.

Cucumbers love warm, fertile, well-drained soil. Plant about 3 feet apart and about an inch down. If you’re using vine varieties, plant those about a foot apart. Like zucchini, wait until the soil is nice and warm and keep them watered and they’ll grow like weeds.

Seeds can be started indoors to get a head start on the growing season about 3 weeks before the last frost. They can also be directly sown in the garden after the soil warms.

Utilize compost or well-aged manure in the planting area, ensure it receives full sun, and is planted in well draining soil. If the soil is clay, it is best to amend the soil before planting. Plant when the temperature is 70°F or warmer.

Seeds will take just a few days to two weeks to germinate and harvesting cucumbers will be ready in about 45 to 65 days.

Cucumber varieties to try: Early Fortune, China Jade, Parisian Pickling.

7. Lettuce

Growing lettuce requires very little space and if growing leaf lettuce, you can simply harvest a few leaves and the plant will continue to grow. In fact, it can even be successfully grown indoors.

Lettuce likes to have moist soil, is pretty frost-hardy, and prefers cool weather. As long as the temperatures don’t get below 30°F, the lettuce will be fine. Otherwise, you can try covering it to protect it from frost or grow it in containers indoors or in a greenhouse.

While you can purchase started seedlings from the local nursery, growing from seed is fairly easy as well. You can succession plant lettuce by planting two or three plants every few weeks to provide you with a continuous harvest.

Plant in spring or fall for the best results, and harvest when the leaves are large enough. It’s best to harvest in the morning as the sun will cause it to wilt.

It only takes a couple of days up to two weeks for seeds to germinate. It will be ready to harvest about two months later, depending on the type.

Lettuce varieties to try: Merlot, Buttercrunch, Miner’s, Ice Queen, Tom Thumb.

8. Beets

Beets are easy to grow, they don’t care if you neglect them, and they are pretty prolific. The only thing they need is water. They’ll even grow in the worst, rocky soil.

Beets are directly sown from seed into the garden in the early spring when soil is workable and around 50°F. They can also be sown in late summer for a fall crop.

The seed of beet is three or four seeds clustered together. This can take some time to soften and allow the beets to germinate. Expect germination in a little over a week.

Plant seeds in full sun, 1/2″ deep 1″ to 2″ apart. Once the greens are about four inches tall, thin the beets to 3 to 4″ by pinching off the greens (don’t pull the entire plant).

Beets mature in about 50 to 75 days, depending on the variety. The roots should be harvested when they’re about the size of a golf ball for the best flavor, very large roots don’t taste as good. The greens can be harvested at any time, beginning with thinning.

Beet varieties to try: Golden, Crosby’s Egyptian, Detroit Dark Red.

9. Bell Peppers

Bell peppers are really easy to grow unless it’s a particularly cold or wet gardening season as they love dry, hot weather.

Sweet peppers, and hot peppers, should be started indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the last expected frost, usually using the aid of a heat mat to encourage germination.

Seedlings can be transplanted outdoors after the last threat of frost has passed and temperatures are consistently in the 70s and above.

Some varieties benefit from a little support, this can be as simple as a short bamboo rod to some sort of support cage. This can help the plant from breaking under the weight of the fruit.

All bell peppers start green and will slowly change from green to yellow, orange, and red (or purple, chocolate, or other color). So, they can be harvested when they reach the desired size and color.

Bell pepper varieties to try: California Wonder, Bullnose, Lilac Bell, Chocolate.

10. Potatoes

Potatoes are a versatile crop that keeps very well. Potatoes, on top of all their versatility and ease of storage, grow incredibly easily and prolifically.

We prefer to grow our potato crop in potato towers, It makes it easy to maintain them as well as harvest them at the end of the year.

Use a mixture of topsoil and compost when planting potatoes in towers. Cut the seed potatoes into one-inch cubes, making sure there is at least one eye on each piece, and let them dry overnight.

Plant the seed potatoes 4 to 6 inches deep and cover with soil. As the plant sprouts above the surface, add more soil to cover it up. Keep it well watered, but not water logged.

Potatoes are ready to harvest once they have flowered and the flowers begin to die back.

Potato varieties to try: Irish cobbler, Russet Burbank, German Butterball.

More Beginner Gardener Guides to Help You:

• How to Start a Garden for Beginners
• Planting By the Signs
• 13 Places to Buy Heirloom and Organic Seeds

Did you find this guide on easy to grow vegetables helpful? I’d love to hear about it in the comment section below! Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest for more gardening inspiration!