by Claysie

Created on: January 27, 2007   Last Updated: November 08, 2011

There are many great, easy to grow vegetables. In all reality they all can be easy with the right conditions and care. The trick is knowing your conditions. For example is your soil dry, or wet, how much room the plant needs, how much sun and water the plant needs, and are they a winter or summer crop. Some plants can be high maintenance and some not so much. It is not as easy as "I heard cukes are easy to grow." So you throw a seed in the ground where the sun shines and give it a gallon of water.

From my own personal experiences I can tell you I can not grow a cucumber to save my life. I can get the vines to grow but that is always as far as it gets. I have tryed growing them straight on the ground, tryed growing them up poles (vertical gardening is awesome), I've tryed everything from manure to lights. Anyhow, I think you get my point. I live in a zone 4, which is a colder climate. Plus, my land is built up on land that is below sea-level which with more than a rain here and there can make my soil too wet for easy to grows.

What I find easiest to grow. Loose leaf lettuce, it is lightly shade tolerant and does not need extreme heat to grow. There are several varieties, all with slightly different tastes, textures and colors. The different colors can brighten up a plain green salad, and some kids think it is neat it's not just green. 

Radishes are easy and very fun. Most grow extremely fast and you can grow different varieties like the lettuce to make it fun for the kids too. Some times you can buy packets of seed already mixed for you and then you can discover which you like the best. (You can find many vegetable seed packets with assorted mixes of each vegetable, like squash mixes, lettuce mixes, etc.)The best thing about radish is you do not need to plant many, but you can plant 2-3 crops back to back in one season.

Tomatoes are pretty easy to grow. I myself will not eat at tomato but every year I always grow more than my family will ever eat. Here's a tip though, if you love tomatoes and have a short growing season, try cherry, grape, or small pear tomatoes. They are so fun to watch grow and with cherry tomatoes it seems the more you pick the more that grow.

The request from my son every year is jalapeño peppers. These like tomatoes, I always grow two many but I love to eat these. As long as they get a regular amount of water and a good amount of sun then there should be no problems. If you have a short season then it is best to start them inside (your tomatoes too), and slowly introduce them to the outdoors when weather warms.

Peas Please! Early peas are fast, easy and fun. Your crop will be better if you grow them up something like page wire vertically but it is not a must. Once you have picked the last one from your vines, you can plant another batch to have fresh peas all summer. My garden is my way to get my children to eat healthy, as long as it is ready to pick, they can. They don't open the fridge all summer long, they go pick a handful of peas or whatever they choose and go straight back to playing.

Broccoli, Cabbage, Corn, Carrots, Onions, Pumpkin, Squash, and many, many, more; I think they are all easy to grow, it is just learning what each plant likes. That is the fun of gardening. Each vegetable has it's own personality but they are all easy to grow, it's giving them the right conditions that is hard.

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