What to plant in first vegetable garden?

dcontessa

I'm trying to figure out what kinds of seeds to buy, and I'm pretty clueless. I guess I'm definetly going to start with the "easier" plants like:

-Tomatoes 

-Peppers 

-Cucumbers

But I kind of want to try some experimental ones like: 

 -Onions

-Garlic

-Potatoes

-Lettuce

-Strawberries

-Cantelope

-Pumpkins

-Carrots

-Celery

-Broccoli

-Sunflowers 

I read that a common mistake with new gardeners is that they try to take on more then they can handle. I have no idea if the items I just listed above are considered to be a large amount or not.  Is that too many to try to plant the first time around? I kinda figured that the worst that can happen is that they don't grow, right? I really have no idea what I'm doing! Please let me know what you think. Thanks so much!

~NB~

Plant what you eat most.

nitaw

~NB~:

Plant what you eat most.

This.

My garden usually consists of romaine lettuce, collard greens, carrots, okra, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers because we eat them all the time. Last year we did squash, and it produced a LOT before the squash bugs got it. any excess veggies I have gets shared with my neighbors.

krisandgrace

How much room do you have? Pumpkins, cantaloupe and potatoes take up a lot of room.

I would also maybe start from seed with veggies that can be directly sown in the garden and buy small plants from your local farmers market for things that you would we need to start inside for your first year.

Jujube6

I'd also suggest planting some basil and rosemary if you want to spread out into herbs. They're really hardy and easy to take care of. Plus you can add them to your veggie recipes

dcontessa

Thank you so much for the responses! I pretty much listed the things that we would eat. We have about an acre, so space isn't an issue.

IndianChica

What you have listed have really different growing times (some in winter, some in summer) so you shouldn't plant them all together. Okra is one thing you havem't listed that is very good pickled. If you like that, I'd plant those and can/pickle.

pdxmouse

Will okra grow in upstate NY? I know it doesn't stay warm enough, long enough out here. ::mourns bhindi masala:: I can barely get a pepper to grow. 

OP, space might not be a concern per se, but you're going to have to prepare your beds. The more space you plan your garden in, the more work you're going to have put into clearing, tilling or loosening the soil, amending, watering, mulching etc. 

Do you think you might do raised beds? They're nice because you just fill them with a soil/compost mix and you don't have to worry so much about the clearing, tilling and amending. You do have to build the boxes, but if you have tough soil it's a lot less work. The Square Foot Gardening book might be a good resource if you're taking that route. I know a lot of first time gardeners that have had good luck with that method.

You also have considerations like how much sun you have, and where plants might shade out each other. Plus, like above things grow differently depending on your climate, your state extension service probably has a few guides online to give some ideas of what's easiest in your region.  

Of what you've listed, I found direct sowing to be easiest: beets, lettuce, chard, basil, broccoli (but only in cool months or it bolts). Garlic has a good reputation too. I think potatoes, cantaloupe and pumpkins would be the most work because they like to grow on mounds, but if you have the space, I think it'd be worth it. I usually buy a couple of direct-sow seeds that I didn't "plan" on and sprinkle them in little corners and see what makes it. I don't get too broken up if it doesn't work because a seed packet is what, 2 bucks? But I get really, really excited when something takes off. Bragging rights! 

nitaw

pdxmouse:

Will okra grow in upstate NY? I know it doesn't stay warm enough, long enough out here. ::mourns bhindi masala:: I can barely get a pepper to grow. 

Okra likes it hot. I'm in TN, once it hits 80+ degrees, my okra production skyrockets. 

pdxmouse

nitaw:

pdxmouse:

Will okra grow in upstate NY? I know it doesn't stay warm enough, long enough out here. ::mourns bhindi masala:: I can barely get a pepper to grow. 

Okra likes it hot. I'm in TN, once it hits 80+ degrees, my okra production skyrockets. 

I had the impression that upstate NY spend about 9 months of the year under 4 feet of snow, no? 

And yeah, we didn't get a day over 80 until mid-August last year. I think we got like three of them total. My regional guide says something like "you're fukcing kidding me" in the okra section. 

spiritenergy

For onions and potatoes, I would not start with seed. Instead I would start with sets. It is much easier. For sunflowers, I would get a variety with a large seed head. Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, cantelope, and sunflowers are all summer crops. I would start these indoors and transplant them outside since you have a short summer (except the sunflowers they do not do well being transplanted in my experience). Lettuce is very easy, but bunnies love lettuce, so beware of that. Are you planning to start with plants or seeds for strawberries? I would start with plants for your first time. There are June bearing strawberries that produce one large crop at once that is great for jams. The other variety is ever bearing that produce a little at a time over a long season. Carrots take a long time and rabbits love them. For rocky or clay soil I would grow short fat carrots. For sandy soil, I would grow long skinny carrots. Garlic is straight forward and produces well.

ringstrue

You have to learn a bit about the plants and timing in you area. For instance, you can buy baby plants of tomatoes, peppers, squash, canteloupe and cucumbers and get a harvest the same year. But for strawberries, its better to just by a few and let them reproduce into a "patch" that will get better over the years.

Sun flowers you can throw in anywhere. I say put them amoungst your flowerbeds - no reason to have them take up space in the garden. 

Onions and Garlic will take a year too - you plant in the fall and harvest late summer (i believe) so don't worry about them right now for spring.

Potatoes you gotta grow in their own bag or container and are harder to deal with. They are a fun experiment but I'd recommend getting a "kit" for them and following the instructions.

for your first year I recommend starting your perennial herb plants. Chives take a year to gorw before you can harvest, for instance. Oregano and Thyme are easy to maintain usually. You can do mint too but ONLY in a container! Otherwise it goes everywhere!

Basil is an easy annual herb too. 

 

 

Malvagia

I know you didn't mention sugar snap peas but if you do eat them they are very easy to grow and they like cold weather.  I didn't eat them before I started my garden but now that I grow them I love eating them off the vine.

alecmiranda

I'm starting a new garden this year and while I have some experience, I have decided to go with a BHG garden plan [ http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plans/vegetable/] and then used Burpee's Growing Calendar [http://www.burpee.com/gygg/growingCalendarWithZipCode.jsp?catid=1000&_requestid=530897] to make sure I was planting at the right time.  Some of the vegetables they have listed are ones we wont eat so I just replaced them with others.

DH and I are busy 6 out of 7 days so I'm trying to make it as easy and simple as possible.  I'm using the square garden plans [http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plans/vegetable/vegetable-garden-plans/#page=8] so I know what to plant in Spring, Summer, and Fall to hopefully have a year round growing season.

Good luck!