What to plant your first gardening year

“I’m starting my first garden this year, what should I plant?”

There are so many different ways that someone would answer this question. And I will be the one to tell you-plant whatever you want. What do you eat a lot of? What do you find yourself buying from the grocery frequently? If you eat a lot of pickles, grow a bunch of cucumbers. If you enjoy eating salad and fresh greens, grow lettuce. The wonderful thing about gardening is that you always have next season to try something new. Maybe your first year, you tried to plant bell peppers, but it didn’t work out. Great news! Try to grow it next year.

Of course, naturally some things are easier to grow than others. I tried (three separate times) to grow onions, and I failed. However, I planted beets and carrots, expecting no success. Instead, I got a decent harvest! Sure, they weren’t the most hearty looking root vegetables you’ve ever seen-but it fed my family.

For those of you who may ask, “What crops are ‘easy’ to grow?”

This answer will also differ depending on who you ask. Where one may find zucchini to be difficult, another may find it one of the easiest. I’m here to share my experience and my experience alone. Hopefully you find this information helpful.

Herbs: Personally, I had a lot of success with growing herbs my first year. I grew dill and basil, two of which I frequently use in cooking and canning. They didn’t require much work on my end, which is always a plus. I did find that by pinching the tops of my herbs (such as basil), made them grow wider and bushier. By the end of the season, my basil plant was about the size of a small tree.

Cucumbers: I had a love/hate relationship with cucumbers. They certainly need more room to grow than perhaps many other crops. Had I not planted them so close to my tomatoes, I believe I would have had more success. Nonetheless, as long as you can let them grow vertically, they are fairly “easy”. No pruning, no pinching, just pure harvesting. But this is your reminder: harvest them when they are green and on the small side. When they get too ripe, they will be wide and yellow. This means they will have less “cucumber” flavor, more seeds, and in my opinion, they are more bitter. But be careful not to plant too many seeds, or else you will drown in cucumbers and preserving them. Unless that’s your goal-then by all means go for it! I will attach a photo below of what a daily cucumber harvest looked like for me with only two cucumber plants.

Lettuce: Lettuce is another crop that hardly needs any of your attention. Until it’s ready to pick, of course. I found that planting lettuce in the heat of summer, caused it to be a bit bitter. I would not use it for salads, but sandwiches and lettuce wraps instead. I would suggest planting lettuce early in the spring or closer to your last frost date. You will want to look at your seed packet to determine when it will be ready to harvest. If it says it takes 51 days from seed to harvest, make sure you give it enough time to grow before your last frost date. But, you can also plant lettuce in the winter (which is wonderful), it will just take longer than the suggestion on your seed packet due to less sunlight hours in the winter. This will depend on where you live.

Zinnias: Zinnias, zinnias, zinnias. Oh how I adore them. I didn’t even realize how much I would love them until my sister-in-law suggested I grow them. I am so glad she did. Not only were they extremely easy to grow, they brought SO many pollinators to my garden beds. They are not high maintenance by any means, however if you’re wanting to cut them for bouquets, you will need to know how to cut them. All you need to do, is cut them at the base where they meet the main stem. And that’s it! By doing this, it will promote new growth for blooms all summer long!

Yes, this was an Every. Day. Thing.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a pickle girl to my core. But even with eating fresh, fridge pickles, canning pickles, then gifting dozens to neighbors and family, I still have over 30 jars of pickles on my shelves. Do not underestimate the power of planting an individual cucumber seed.