10 Easiest Vegetables to Grow for Beginners (and How Fast They Grow)
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The easiest vegetables to grow have three things in common: they sprout reliably, they grow quickly, and they forgive a missed watering or two. If this is your first garden, start with the ten below and you will have something to pick within a month.
The easiest vegetables for beginners are radishes, leaf lettuce, bush beans, snap peas, zucchini, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, kale, Swiss chard and green onions. Radishes are the fastest (about 4 weeks). Plant the cool-season crops in early spring or fall, and the warm-season crops after your last frost.
Easy vegetables at a glance
| Vegetable | Season | How to start | Sun | Days to harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radishes | Cool | Seed, in the garden | Full sun to part shade | 25 to 30 |
| Leaf lettuce | Cool | Seed, in the garden | Full sun to part shade | 30 to 45 |
| Snap peas | Cool | Seed, in the garden | Full sun | 55 to 70 |
| Kale | Cool | Seed or young plants | Full sun to part shade | 50 to 65 |
| Swiss chard | Cool to warm | Seed, in the garden | Full sun to part shade | 50 to 60 |
| Green onions | Cool to warm | Seed or sets | Full sun | 60 to 70 (from seed) |
| Bush beans | Warm | Seed, in the garden | Full sun | 50 to 60 |
| Zucchini | Warm | Seed, in the garden | Full sun | 45 to 55 |
| Cucumbers | Warm | Seed, in the garden | Full sun | 50 to 70 |
| Cherry tomatoes | Warm | Young plants | Full sun | 60 to 70 (from transplant) |
Cool-season crops like chilly weather and can be planted a few weeks before your last spring frost, and again in late summer for fall. Warm-season crops are killed by frost, so wait until the danger has passed and the soil has warmed.
The 10 easiest vegetables, one by one
1. Radishes
Radishes are the fastest vegetable you can grow. Sow seeds half an inch deep and an inch apart, and you will be pulling them in about four weeks. Their one demand is speed: harvest as soon as the roots are the size of a large marble, because they turn woody and hot if left too long.
Tip: sow a short row every two weeks, not the whole packet at once, so they do not all ripen on the same day.
2. Leaf lettuce
Skip head lettuce for now and grow loose-leaf types. Scatter the seeds, barely cover them, and keep the soil damp. Once leaves are 4 inches tall, snip the outer ones and the plant keeps producing for weeks. Lettuce turns bitter in summer heat, so grow it in spring and fall, or tuck it in the shade of taller plants.
3. Bush beans
Bean seeds are big, easy to handle, and sprout within a week in warm soil. Bush varieties stay knee-high and need no trellis. Plant seeds an inch deep and 3 inches apart after your last frost.
Tip: pick every couple of days. The more you pick, the more the plant makes.
4. Snap peas
Peas are one of the first crops you can plant in spring, as soon as the soil can be worked. Give them something to climb, such as a short trellis or netting, and eat the whole crunchy pod. They fade when hot weather arrives, which frees the space for a summer crop.
5. Zucchini
Zucchini is famous for producing more than a family can eat. One or two plants is plenty. Give each plant about 3 feet of space and pick the fruits small, at 6 to 8 inches, when they taste best. Our step-by-step guide to growing squash from seed covers it in detail.
6. Cucumbers
Cucumbers grow fast in warm weather and are happy climbing a trellis, which saves space and keeps the fruit clean and straight. Water them consistently: uneven watering is the main cause of bitter cucumbers.
7. Cherry tomatoes
Large tomatoes can be fussy, but cherry tomatoes are vigorous and forgiving, and a single plant can give you hundreds of fruits. Buy young plants for your first year, set them deep so only the top leaves show (the buried stem grows extra roots), and add a sturdy cage on planting day. When you are ready to grow your own from seed, follow our tomato seed starting guide.
Flimsy cages topple by midsummer. Tall, sturdy ones are worth it, and they last for years.
8. Kale
Kale shrugs off cold, tolerates some heat, and grows in part shade. Pick the lower leaves and it keeps growing from the top for months. A light frost even makes it sweeter.
9. Swiss chard
Chard is the rare leafy green that handles both cool and hot weather, so one planting can feed you from spring to fall. The colorful stems make it one of the prettiest plants in the garden. Harvest the outer leaves and leave the center to keep growing.
10. Green onions
Green onions (scallions) take up almost no room, so you can tuck them between other plants. For the quickest result, plant onion “sets”, the small bulbs sold in spring, and start snipping in about a month.
Tip: cut them an inch above the soil instead of pulling them, and they regrow.
What you need to get started
You do not need much: a sunny spot, decent soil, seeds, and a way to water. A raised bed makes the soil part easy, and most of the vegetables above also grow well in large pots. For tools, our guide to the only 5 garden tools you need keeps the shopping list short.
A mixed pack is the cheapest way to try several crops in your first season.
Vegetables to save for your second year
These are worth growing, but each has a quirk that frustrates beginners:
- Cauliflower and celery need steady moisture and narrow temperature ranges.
- Carrots are slow and patchy to sprout unless the soil stays constantly damp for up to three weeks.
- Corn needs a large block of plants to pollinate properly.
- Melons need a long, hot season and lots of space.
Frequently asked questions
What is the fastest vegetable to grow?
Radishes, at 25 to 30 days from seed. Baby leaf lettuce is close behind at about 30 days.
Which easy vegetables grow in pots?
Lettuce, radishes, kale, chard, green onions, bush beans and cherry tomatoes all do well in containers. Use a pot at least 12 inches deep for tomatoes, and use potting mix, not garden soil. See how to choose potting soil for containers.
Which easy vegetables grow in shade?
No vegetable grows in full shade, but lettuce, kale, chard and radishes manage with 3 to 4 hours of direct sun.
