Easy to Grow Vegetables

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While it is easy to grow vegetables, some vegetables are easier to grow than others. When starting off a vegetable garden with your children, you will want to begin with easy vegetables to grow to almost guarantee a decent crop, encourage the children (and yourself!) and keep enthusiasm for growing vegetables high!

Just how easy to grow vegetables are does depend in part on your climate and the soil conditions, but the following list is generally agreed across the board as being a good guide on easy vegetables to grow.

List of Easy to Grow Vegetables

1. Cress. This must be the absolutely most easy vegetable to grow. Usually grown indoors in flat containers with just some damp kitchen towel or blotting paper, you simply cannot go wrong. Cress, like mustard, grows very quickly and is the ideal starting place for young children. For added novelty, consider growing Cress Eggmen!
2. Lettuce. Again, lettuce can be grown inside or out, in containers or in the vegetable patch. There are lots of different varieties to chose from. Follow the advice on growing lettuce and to begin with, try a smaller lettuce which grows quickly.
3. Radishes. These are also a must on your list of starter vegetables. They prefer a damper or colder climate, and need very little maintenance - simply thin them out sufficiently to ensure there is enough space for the bulbs to develop. Radishes are often grown together with carrots, as the seedlings pop up quickly, acting as row markers, and also help to break down the surface for the weaker carrot seedlings to come through. See the different types and all about growing radishes.
4. Swiss Chard. Like spinach, chard is not fussy about the ground and needs almost no care apart from thinning out and weeding to begin with. Chard also looks nice, especially the variety with red stems, and both the leaf and stem can be eaten. In many climates, chard will overwinter quite cheerfully. Children who don't like spinach, will often take to chard instead.
5. Green Beans. Try the bush types for ease of cultivation, though runner beans do offer more yield in the same space (because they grow upwards!) and you can experiment with growing the beans over arches, creating a tunnel of runner beans through which the children can walk or make a bean teepee!
6. Carrots. Providing you keep to a few simple rules, growing carrots is easy. They prefer a cooler climate and can be planted as soon as the frost is past and the ground is workable.
7. Potatoes. Though often not considered to be an easy to grow vegetable, potatoes actually are as long as they are banked up and watered frequently. You can grow potatoes in containers which means they don't take up much space for a decent crop.
8. Spinach. The best type of spinach to go for is spinach beet (which is not really a 'true' spinach at all) as it is less likely to bolt. Spinach prefers cooler climates so is ideal planted in early spring or autumn (check the variety on the seed packet), and like chard, leaves can be picked off and used and the plant will just keep on growing.
9. Onions. Your best bet is to plant onion sets (miniature onions) rather than onion seeds to begin with. They are easy for younger children to handle and need almost no maintenance apart from initial weeding. Plant radishes together with the onions to mark out the rows, as they sprout faster. Onions like to be planted early on in the season, but there are also varieties which can be planted in late summer or early autumn for a winter or spring crop.
10. Beetroot. Like spinach, kids either love it or hate it, but it is one of the easiest vegetables to grow. It can be planted as soon as the frost is over and just requires damp ground to germinate.

The above list are easy to grow vegetables because they can be planted directly in the ground and don't require transplanting. They are also not too fussy about the soil or climate and don't need too much maintenance.

In warm climates it is also easy to grow vegetables directly outdoors which in cooler climates may benefit from being started off indoors or in a greenhouse and then being transplanted later on when the weather has warmed up a bit. These are:

• Courgettes (Zucchini). Once established, courgettes really do look after themselves. They need a lot of water and can be prone to the same virus as cucumbers, so plant these two in different areas of the garden. Courgette flowers are also edible and considered a delicacy!
• Tomatoes. Tomatoes are easy to grow as long as the leaves do not get too wet. They need staking (usually with bamboo canes) or can be grown upside down! In cooler, wetter climates they do better indoors or in greenhouses but can be successful if planted along a south-facing wall and given some protecting in the form of a tomato frame. Choose cherry tomatoes as these are sweeter.
• Cucumbers. Cucumbers love climbing, so need some form of frame to grow along or can be planted by a fence - like tomatoes, they can also be grown upside down! In cooler climates, they do best indoors or in the greenhouse.
• Pumpkins. Pumpkins are a must for children! Pumpkins love hot summers and are well worth growing just for their sheer interest. The plants need lots of space and trailing kinds will grow along fences or trellis. Once established, they require little maintenance apart from plenty of water.

Rhubarb is another vegetable which is easy to grow and has the added benefit of coming up and providing tasty produce year after year. Check out Savor the Rhubarb for growing advice, recipies and just about everything you could ever wish to know about this very versatile plant!

 

 

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