There are many great reasons to consider growing your own food. Homegrown vegetables are often cheaper, organic, and there are many other benefits too.
For example, maintaining a vegetable patch is a very rewarding experience that can do wonders for your self-esteem and mental health.
Sounds simple enough right? After all, it’s the plant that does most of the work, all you need to do is stick it in the ground and reap a bountiful harvest! If only things were this simple.
There are a lot of different vegetables and while growing them does have enormous benefits, it can also be quite difficult and have a lot of different factors to consider before you start sowing.
The first thing to consider is the climate wherever you plan to grow your veg. Is it temperate? Is it arid? Are there sudden chills in spring or long, drawn-out winters?
A lot of the factors that determine how easy a crop is to grow revolve around managing how the climate will help or hinder the growth of your produce.
It’s been something that humanity has become very good at, hence the massive industrialized agriculture that supplies the majority of the human diet today.
It’s something that you’ll need to have a decent understanding of, in order to make sure you give your crops the best chance possible of thriving and surviving.
There are other factors too, such as the quality of the soil you have and managing it to try and improve it or make it suitable for different vegetables.
Taking all of this into account is really important to ensure that you maximize your efficiency and increase your harvest.
All that being said, there are more than a few hardy vegetables that don’t require a lot of TLC and will be far easier to grow for beginners, helping them to build their confidence and get ready to work with a wider variety of vegetables later on.
Courgettes
Courgettes are one of the easiest plants to grow and can reach truly impressive sizes when left in the right conditions.
They can even be started in smaller containers on the patio for those without much space, and with regular watering they will often thrive, providing quite a lot of fruit to harvest.
Picking them regularly will maximize the amount you grow, as some courgettes can provide around 30 fruits from a solitary plant, depending on the conditions. The flowers are also edible and are quite tasty when fried.
Beans
Beans are one of the most versatile options and there are a lot of different variations. Runner beans are a popular choice that tends to need a small apparatus to climb, but the rewards are immense, as you can pick the peas and the plant will continue to grow more.
They do need a bit of space and some watering but that’s about it, and the value they provide makes it more than worth it. Typically these are sown in the early summer and can be harvested after around 2 months of growth.
There are also broad beans, which are even easier to grow, simply plant them in a pot or directly in the ground if the conditions are right.
They can be sown in the winter in pots and transferred outdoors once the spring gets underway, however, if you prefer you can plant later to set them straight into the outdoor soil. Typically people sow them from November through to March and harvest from around June.
Potatoes
Potatoes are one of the most popular and famous crops and have been a cornerstone of human agriculture for a very long time now. They are very easy to grow either in a bag, in a bin, or directly in the ground.
Keep them well watered and whenever you see the shoot appearing above the soil, simply cover it with more compost. When the foliage starts to yellow and die back it’s time to rummage around and find your fully homegrown potatoes!
Peas
Peas are another very easy choice that thrives in milder climates and can be down directly into the ground in the late spring or early summer.
After around 2 months you will have a very strong plant to harvest from, and the beauty of this is that when you pick peas the plant will happily produce more.
Spring Onions
The great thing about spring onions is that they are very flavorful and don’t take a lot of space to grow. They will also self-seed once the flower dies, meaning as long as no critters get at them they will eventually grow again!
What is the quickest food to grow?
Spinach
Spinach is one of the hardiest crops and can handle very cold temperatures if you get caught out by unseasonal cold snaps. Another great thing is that Spinach only takes about 30 days to grow, and needs to be harvested before the leaves mature as they will become bitter.
Re-seeding is also quite simple, making them a very speedy crop to plant successively.
Radishes
Radishes are another fairly robust crop that can grow in around 21 days, providing you with all the flavor you need for those salad leaves.
Which vegetable can be grown at home?
There are a surprising number of vegetables that can be grown at home, especially when given the right preparation and care.
While some limitations can affect your selection, such as the climate you have, it’s possible to get around these in some cases, using greenhouses or other artificial solutions which can control the conditions your vegetables grow in.
All of the above-mentioned vegetables can be grown in your home or garden however there are several others such as;
- Salad Leaves
- Onions
- Garlic
- Lettuce
- Turnips
- Zucchini
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Cucumber
- Tomatoes
Besides these, there are also a host of herbs that can really add flavor and variety to your gardens, such as Mint, Thyme, Basil, Coriander, Chives, Fennel, Sage, and many more.
