5 Plants for New Gardeners in 2022

Spring has sprung, and that means gardens need of preparing, and gardeners need plans of what the season’s harvest will bring. There are millions of awe striking, inspiring seeds at garden centers, just waiting for some gardener to take them home and admire their growth.

But if you’re looking into gardening for the first time, those instructions and necessary conditions on the back of those seed packets may seem a bit intimidating. Don’t let it stop you from trying! You’ll be amazed at nature’s fighting desire to grow and produce fruit.

All of these plant suggestions are as low maintenance as vegetable gardening could be. They are also all able to be grown in a relatively small amount of space. Water them regularly and watch your dreams of growing your own garden produce come true.

These are broad categories of vegetables that I’ve found easy to grow. I’ll leave the specific variety up to you. Consider flavor profiles that interest you and varieties that do well in your region.

BONUS FACT

Seeds or plant starts from local nurseries are more likely to have seeds adapted to your environment, and are then more likely to grow well in your garden. Environment affects the DNA passed from parent plant to the seed for next years planting — one variety grown in a cold environment vs a warm environment will retain and develop more resistance to those specific environments. After years of seed breeding, seeds adapt and keep qualities that give the next generation more tolerance to environmental factors. Ultimately, you end up with a seed with higher probability of germinating, reaching maturity, and an increase their likelihood of thriving.

Cherry Tomatoes

You haven’t lived until you’ve tasted the depth of flavor in a homegrown tomato. Do yourself a favor and start your gardening journey with greatest reward.

Also, tomatoes are one of the easiest ways to add acidity into your meals or salads, and knowing that the necessary, dynamic flavor profile of your meals came from your own efforts is a beautiful feeling.

Cherry Tomato Care

Keep it off the ground if you can. You can use tomato trellises or cattle panels to tie tomatoes up. Keeping the plant off the ground protects the leaves from disease and lessens pest pressure.

They are heavy feeders, so they like to have rich, nutritious soil. Acquiring some compost at the start of the growing season, adding worm castings, or any other method of fertilizing you’re using helps to give your tomatoes a boost.

I’ve heard that sprinkling spent coffee grounds around the base of the plant is a good way to deter pests and add to the soil. I’ve never tried it, so if you do, let me know how it goes!

Broccoli

Homegrown broccoli similarly has a much more dynamic flavor than store bought. And it’s a little bit magical the way that one day, your broccoli is only a bunch of leaves, and the next, there’s tiny little florets popping up.

A bonus of homegrown broccoli is that the leaves are fully edible and have a delicious depth of savory broccoli flavor. It adds a ton of interest to otherwise average tasting lettuce in any salad, or stir fry.

Broccoli Care

They’re really easy growers. Make sure to water them regularly (once a day while they’re young and every other few days when they are larger) and you should be good to go.

One thing to note is that the more leaves you remove from the plant, the smaller and less broccoli florets it will produce. When leaves are removed, a message is sent down to the roots for the plant to put more effort into building new leaves and roots in order to support its efforts to produce the florets.

Basil

Basil just smells like heaven. Once it gets warm outside, it really takes off. One plat can produce a fairly large amount in a single season. It tastes great in a salad, as an added fresh flavor to any dish, or a pesto. It’s all super, you can’t go wrong with basil.

Basil Care

The only recommendation I have is to wait to plant it out until its consistently pretty warm (maybe about 60 night temperatures) because it is very slow going in the cooler temperatures.

Radish

Radish grows quickly. Most varieties will be ready to harvest in less than a month. There are a lot of ways that you can use radish — fresh in a salad, roasted as a side, or even pickled or fermented for a more tangy flavor.

Radish Care

There is need further in the season for some pest control because the pill bugs love to get into radishes. Some Diatomaceous earth is a really effective organic option.

Zucchini

You will get so much zucchini, you wont know what to do with it all. one things for sure, once you start growing it, you will never need to buy another zucchini again.

you can do a lot with zucchini — fry it, chop it up and add it fresh to a salad, cut it in strings fir a “noodle” type use, shred it for adding to sweet breads or pasta sauces, stir fry, and the list goes on. If you have a favorite zucchini dish, please share! With the abundance of a harvest, theres always a need for more ways to use it.

Zucchini Care

The only real trick with zucchini is that the leaves are very susceptible to mold, so make sure you are watering them from the bottom of the plant and avoid splash back onto the plant.

Cut off any older leaves that may be closer to the soil. As you harvest the zucchini, cut the leaves that were below the fruit all the way back to the main stem.

I’ve heard that squash bugs can be a problem, especially in warmer climates. You can try succession sowing and organic pest controls. And note where you planted the zucchini so that next year you can plant in a new location. This just makes the little buggers have to work really hard to find your squash each year, and in turn helps you get a harvest before they do.

A Golden Tip

While these plants are all practically fail proof, you may still run into some problems. If something seems amiss, take it back to the basics. Consider the amount of water, sunshine, and food the soil offers. Those are really the only three things that could be detrimentally wrong with an unhappy plant.

Happy Gardening!