I talk to a lot of individuals who soon discover that I am an avid gardener.
I get asked a lot of questions about why I grow food and they soon find out how much I actually grow. Many say things like, “but I don’t have the space”, or “I wouldn’t even know where to begin”, or “what can somebody new to gardening grow”? What I have found is that so many hang themselves up on common misconceptions about gardening. Well, now is the time where I am going to attempt to erase all the blurred lines and share with you, five easy crops to start growing NOW!
So, put on your dancing shoes and let’s boogie.
First things first; try to erase everything you have ever heard about gardening, feared about gardening, and know about gardening. This may only apply to the first time gardeners out there. Some may have tried to grow a few different veggies in the past with poor luck. Some may already have a small garden that is not looking very healthy.
Others may have never actually touched living soil.
Take the meaning and feelings related to the term discouragement and plant it in someone’s prized lush lawn. Because, in the gardening world, all is left in the hands of Mother Nature and the various techniques that you provide. One of the greatest gifts gardening can offer you is good ol’ humility, something we can all benefit from time to time.
Top 5 Foods You Can Grow Now:
Table of Contents
- Top 5 Foods You Can Grow Now:
- 1. Herbs
- 2. Potatoes
- 3. Lettuce/Greens
- 4. Beans
- 5. Chili Peppers
- Lettuce, haha get it…let-us, move on to planting our easy to grow crops shall we.
- Step 1:
- Step 2:
- Step 3:
- Step 4:
1. Herbs
I have found that herbs are by far the easiest thing to grow in the garden and earn a valuable place on almost every kitchen’s spice rack. Herbs can be grown in a variety of different places and spaces. In your house, apartment, tiny house, or camper. So, now is as good a time as any to drop the idea that you do not have enough space to grow. Find a sunny south facing window, a spot on the balcony, a corner on your patio, or some extra space in a closet.
If you do not have any of these, I am going to go ahead and call BULL-SHIT!
So, for lack of a better term, Shit or get off the pot folks! Herbs are very forgiving and most do not require a lot of space to grow. You can also find live plants at your local grocery store in the produce department to plant. This is a great way to acquire an already started herb plant. However, it will require transplanting and regular watering if you plan to keep it growing for any amount of time. I hear a lot of noise from people that bought a small herb plant, left it on the window sill in its original pot, took a few leaves for supper and let it die. The plant did not just die, they killed it by not transplanting it into a bigger container and either over watering or not watering enough.
Overwatering is very common and can kill your plant.
Under watering will also kill your plant. So do your new friend a favor and just PAY ATTENTION TO IT! When the soil dries out, you can see that the soil is dry, you can feel the weight of the plant is much lighter, and you can see that the leaves have become a bit droopy. Time to water folks! The key is to water deeply and less frequently. Only feed the plant water when it tells you.
2. Potatoes
Potatoes seem like a difficult veggie to grow, but they are actually very easy. If you have a bit of space for raised beds or ground that you can plant directly into, then simply dig a small hole the size of the potato 4-6 inches deep. Place your potato in the hole and cover with soil. Then water in.
If you do not have enough room for raised garden beds or planting into the ground I got you covered.
First find a bucket. Preferably a five gallon bucket from Lowes, or elsewhere, is preferable and the most budget friendly. However, you can use a bigger plant pot, or you may be able to find free buckets from the bakery or deli department at the local grocery store. Go ahead and drill several holes in the bottom of the bucket so that water can drain.
This is an instance where bigger is better for a larger yield, but not required to grow potatoes.
Next, you can either use store bought organic potatoes or seed potatoes that you have purchased. I am not going to dive into the ocean of topics regarding The Big-O. And no I am not referring to the term Orgasm, ya freak, get your head back in the game. I am talking about organic.
Sometimes, non organic potatoes have been sprayed with a chemical to limit roots from growing.
Organic potatoes usually have not been sprayed. Did you know that potatoes have “eyes”? They sure do! But don’t worry they will not be watching over you while you sleep. However, the eyes will grow roots.
I am sure at some point in your life you have noticed that some of your potatoes stored, in the cupboard, have started growing roots out of the little indents in the potato. (Side note, if you are storing your potatoes in the refrigerator, go ahead and smack yourself now). Well, these little indents are commonly referred to as the eyes of the potato and this is where the potato will send out underground stems called “Tubers”.
Many would like to think of these as roots, but they are not actually roots, they are stems.
Many gardeners that grow potatoes, will divide a single potato into pieces that have eyes and plant the pieces. My approach is to plant the whole potato, as I have noticed better yields this way. If you only have enough space to use 5 gallon buckets for your potatoes, simply fill your bucket about a third of the way with soil, evenly space 3-4 potatoes, depending on their size, then cover the potatoes about 4-6 inches with more soil. There is a necessary step to take while growing potatoes.
Once your potatoes have sprouted, congratulate yourself first off.
But, when they reach about 6 inches tall they will need to be “hilled up”. Very simply, hilling, just simply means to add more soil to the very top of the growth only leaving a small amount of growth showing. We do this for our potatoes, because more potatoes will develop along the stem, and potatoes left uncovered will turn green and can be toxic at that point. Now you see why we only filled the bucket about a third of the way with soil at the beginning.
You will continue to “hill up” your potato plants every time they reach 4-6 inches.
Potato plants will tell you they are ready to be harvested when they begin to wilt, turn brown, and look dead. The best part about using a bucket, or other container when growing potatoes, is that harvesting your potatoes is as simple as dumping your bucket out and fishing out all the potatoes. No digging required.
If you are growing in raised beds or right into the ground, the same steps apply. The only difference is that you will be digging for potatoes when harvest time comes. I enjoy digging for potatoes, because it turns into a bit of a treasure hunt. Check out our video on how easy it is to harvest potatoes that were grown in a container, or read our article here.
3. Lettuce/Greens
Talk about an easy crop to grow. Lettuce can be grown from seed directly sewn into the ground. This fall and spring crop is sure to bring fresh salads to the table for months. Many varieties are known in gardening terms as, cut and come again. This simply means that you can harvest lettuce, leaving behind a few inches, and it will grow again for another harvest. Although lettuce varieties can be transplanted from store bought seedlings, I always prefer to grow from seed directly sown as lettuce does not transplant well.
Lettuce likes moist soil, but do not go crazy, because too much water is too much water.
This really goes across the board when growing anything. Lettuce can be delicate in extreme heat and will most likely bolt during a heat wave. Bolting is when the plant uses its survival mechanisms and grows flowers that soon turn to seed. Once this happens you can pretty much say bye bye to that season’s lettuce, as the flavor usually becomes bitter and the lettuce texture becomes more tough.
I like to grow a mixed variety of lettuces for mixed greens salads. Some of my favorites are Green Leaf, Red Leaf, Romain, Spinach, and some Arugula to add a little bit of spice to my salads. Some varieties will also survive light frosts. So get out there in early fall and spring and grow some lettuce and other greens.
4. Beans
Yep! You guessed it, The fruit that makes ya toot! Beans are another one of my all time favorites. There are many varieties available for you to grow. We like Purple Pole Beans the most. This variety looks just like an average green bean, but it’s purple in color and a little more tender.
Pole beans will need exactly what it says, a pole or some other type of trellis to climb.
Bush beans, on the other hand, do not. So if you want the easy way out, grow a bush bean variety rather than a pole bean variety. Beans can be grown from direct seed sowing, or from transplants. I have never bought bean seedlings, because fresh bean seed has a decent germination rate and it is cheaper. It is a good idea to soak your bean seeds overnight, as this will speed up germination.
Soaking the seed will slightly soften the hard outer shell of the seed.
Beans are also a great nitrogen fixing crop. This means that you can plant beans next to other crops that desire nitrogen, or just by themselves to raise nitrogen levels in your hard working soil. We like to grow many bean plants and preserve them. This makes a quick, easy, and nutritious side to any meal.
5. Chili Peppers
Last, but not least, chili peppers. One of my all time favorites. I just love watching for the flowers to appear and then shortly after, little peppers begin to form. There are so many varieties of beans with varying levels of heat.
So, if ya like it spicy you can grow varieties that pack the punch.
I love hot peppers, so I go after varieties like, Habanero, Jalapeno, and Serrano. Be warned if you are impatient, it is better to grow peppers from starts, because peppers take more time to germinate and more time to mature. I like growing many things from seed to save money. So, if you decide to grow peppers from seed, it is best to start your seeds indoors to get a head start before the season comes. Peppers love the heat. They do best in late spring and in the heat of the summer. They also love water.
Lettuce, haha get it…let-us, move on to planting our easy to grow crops shall we.
Step 1:
Go to the nearest nursery or other store that sells plants and pick up some potting soil.
Step 2:
Find a pot of some sort to grow your herbs. You can get creative here if you do not have a budget for a fancy pot at Lowe’s. From solo cups to one gallon milk or water jugs. Anything that will hold soil will do. You will need to drill holes in the bottom of your container so that water has somewhere to drain. Without proper drainage, plant roots will drown and rot.
Step 3:
Now that you have acquired potting soil, some sort of container, and provided drainage holes, half of the battle has been won. Now all you need is an already established plant, seeds, cuttings from a friend, “borrowed cuttings” from a neighbor, or foraged cuttings from the forest. Acquiring plants is very easy with a little bit of ingenuity.
Step 4:
Time to shine folks! Let’s get to planting. This part can be as simple as you desire. As the gardening bug inside you begins to take over, we can go over some extras that will further guarantee your success. But for now, I want you to get that gardening bug growing inside you as quickly as possible. Because gardening is not only liberating, but provides so many other valuable life changes and skills.
If you decided to grow from seed, (the most exciting for all gardeners) read the back of the seed packet and follow the directions.
This will tell you, when to plant, seed depth, spacing, and sunlight requirements. Then simply fill your container of choice with soil, add some water to moisten the soil, make a small hole to the depth the package says with your finger. I like to use the middle finger, as this finger hardly ever gets used.
I usually like to add 2-3 seeds to the hole just in case they do not all germinate. Then, if they all germinate, I will let them grow until I see their first true leaves. At this point you can either choose the strongest looking ones and clip the others at soil level, or empty your container and carefully separate the seedlings. Now you potentially have three seedlings that you can transplant into separate containers.
Talk about a win win scenario.
So, you acquired an already established plant from the store. Simply fill your container approximately halfway with potting soil. Carefully loosen your store bought transplant in its existing container by tapping the sides, then placing your pointer finger and middle finger on either side of the stem carefully remove the plant from the container.
This is a great time to look at the root system of the store bought plant.
Chances are, the plant will be root bound. If you find a lot of roots that appear to be all tangled together around the circumference of the root ball, then you have a plant that is root bound. This happens when a plant outgrows its current home and is asking for a larger one.
This is why transplanting into a larger pot or into the ground is an inevitable necessity.
Before you plop that new plant directly into his or hers new home it is always a good idea to tease the roots. Teasing the roots is a popular term, where you carefully separate the roots with a tickling movement with the tips of your fingers. Do not go crazy or over think this step. Just loosen the roots so they have an easier time exploring their new larger home. Now you can place your store bought plant into the half filled pot and adjust the soil level accordingly so that the soil level does not exceed its previous level.
Gently firm in the soil in and around the plant carefully and water in. Now place in a nice sunny location and grow with it. Growing a plant from a cutting can be a bit more involved than the average newbie gardener may be ready for, so this method will be covered in a separate post if enough of you show an interest in learning about.
That about wraps up the basics of choosing easy to grow crops and simple steps to get things growing.
Remember, every gardener experiences crop failure from time to time, even well seasoned gardeners. So get out there, swallow that ego and expectations, and Let’s Get Growing. And don’t forget to bring your kids along this journey as well, to read more head on over here!
Growing food doesn’t always need to be produce. Chickens are also a great way to grow your own food easily. Learn how here.
Until next time,
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