Which veggies should I plant?

Diamond_Doll

We're starting our first vegetable garden this year. We already have a raised bed (left by previous homeowners) that gets sunlight all day, and we're in zone 7. Which vegetables are the easiest or best producing for first time gardners? I've been thinking about squash, zuccini, lettuce, green beans, asparagus, broccoli and tomatoes. What should I cut from this list?

I've read that cherry or grape tomatoes are easier to grow than regular tomatoes. Would you recommend them instead?

megan777

Asparagus isn't really a "garden" veggie, they are like a whole garden in themselves, in that they need a lot of space. Also, they don?t produce a lot of harvest for the first several years. I REALLY want to try to grow some also, but we're still working on our landscaping so I need a garden that is disposable.

I have had a lot of success with zucchini, green beans, squash (I did yellow last year) and tomatoes. (Although, I live in a different zone)

Also, if you?re buying live tomatoes plants I would just buy a few different varieties, they're not that expensive and it's fun! I even grew pear tomatoes, which I didn't even know existed!

Anyway, good luck! You'll have lots of fun!

 

hoping4septimus

If you want to do lettuce plant it now. It doesn't do well in the heat. It is an early spring/late fall plant.

Tomatoes are fairly easy whether you do big ones or grape/cherry.

Squash is easy too (Pumpkin, zucchini, yellow squash). I'm not doing squash this year because I had stink bugs last year.

Green beans are easy too. Just plant them about a week apart so you get them throughout the season.

In my garden right now I have strawberries and raspberries in one bed (they take a couple years to get started. The first year I got 1 raspberry, and about 1 strawberry a day, last year I got enough raspberries for my son to snack on while outside, but never enough to do anything with. Last year I got so many strawberries I was bringing gallon bags to my sons' school for snack.

I also have bed dedicated to asparagus. I planted it last year, so I don't plan on being able to harvest any of it until next year.

I have 6 square foot gardens. I have 2 raised beds full of 3 different types of potatoes. 2 raised beds full of 3 types of onions and garlic, 1/2 a raised bed of lettuce, 1/2 a raised bed of sugar snap peas, 1/2 a bed or carrots and 1/2 a bed of beets. These are all early spring crops in the south. When they are done I'll replace them with cukes, peppers (which I never have any luck with yet keep planting), beans. I have another bed that isnt' raised that I have all my herbs in. Rosemary can stay in the ground year round and does really well. Cilantro, Basil and Parsley just keep coming back every year from the seeds dropped the previous year. My cilantro and parsley are already back. I'll plant some thyme and chives soon.  The other 1/2 of that bed is for tomatoes. I'll probably plant about 12 tomato plants. I'll plant a variety.

ozarka020

We did our first garden last year and had a great turnout of zucchini and cherry tomatoes.  We planted both cherry tomatoes and regular tomatoes.  I liked the cherry tomatoes bc I'm impatient, and they ripen a lot faster.  We tried cucumbers too, but those failed.  Chile peppers did really well too.  All these were super easy for DH and I who didn't really know what we were doing.