Gardening for Beginners
“Being a beginning gardener can be difficult and daunting. I wanted to set the record straight that it doesn’t have to scare you and there is still a lot you can grow! In this 3 part mini series, we will cover the best crops you can grow for each skill level.” – Luke Marion, MiGardener
We know starting a garden can be fun but daunting. Below are a few tips and suggestions to help you make decisions on how and where to start.
Know when it’s best to grow from a large seedling, from a small seedling or from seed (watch video from MiGardener).
See below for a list of the easiest varieties to grow from seed.
You should stick with leaf lettuce from seed and not try head lettuce.
Which conventional seedlings should you buy in 4-packs from Good Earth? Our favorites in 4-packs are listed here. Good Earth won’t let us get pre-orders, because they don’t know exactly when any variety will be in stock. They sell a lot more varieties than listed.
Buy 4-packs when they are in stock even if it's too soon to plant outside. You need to know how to take care of the seedlings until they can plant.
Buy the large organic seedlings that need a head start like tomatoes, squash, cukes, peppers.
For kale and swiss chard, we suggest you get a few large organic seedlings, some small conventional 4-pack seedlings AND also try growing from seed.
You have to grow spinach from seed, because it is so easy and so healthy to eat. But you have to follow all the correct tips for soil preparation and watering.
Early season crops
Early season crops extend your growing season which allow you to grow more food and enjoy your garden longer.
50% gardeners fear failure. Failure is a possibility but is also a learning experience. Soil is rarely right for beginning gardeners — often hard, compacted, without the correct amendments. A lot of beginning gardeners start in containers because they want to get their feet wet before they go big-scale in a full-size garden bed. But only some veggies and herbs grow well in containers.
Generally, beginners should plant seedlings for large high yield crops that need higher temperatures to germinate seeds. Sow seeds directly into the outdoor beds for crops that don’t transplant well (if at all).
These spring crops are very forgiving
Giant Noble Spinach
Giant Red Mustards
French Breakfast Radishes
Lincoln Peas
Marigolds and Borage
Parisian Carrots
Basil (plant seedlings)
Thyme
Cilantro
Parsley (plant seedlings)
Sage
Bouquet Dill
Chives
Swiss Chard
Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale
Collards
Broccoli Rabe
Tokyo Long Bunching Onion
Bush Beans
Leaf Lettuce
Beets
Determinate Tomatoes
Straight Eight Cucumbers
Green Purslane
Crop descriptions & tips
Giant Noble Spinach is cold hardy, very easy to grow, super resilient. You can throw the seeds in the snow and they will germinate when the snow melts in the spring. They don’t need tone planted in the soil. Just scatter them and they will sprout.
Giant Red Mustards are very quick to mature and very forgiving. They don’t require lots of soil nutrients.
French Breakfast Radishes are very fast to mature. Harvesting in 20 to 25 days is the motivation and confidence boost beginning gardeners need. Because they grow long and narrow don’t need to be spaced as carefully. Just scatter the seeds with little attention to spacing. This is an exceptionally forgiving roots crop. Most other root crop need careful spacing.
Lincoln Peas are great because they fix nitrogen in the soil, produce a lot and are cold hardy. They will survive a late frost. They are a “combination pea” — a hybrid between snap pea and a shelling pea. You eat the pods oaf a snap pea. You eat the peas in a shelling pea. It’s an heirloom that is a cross between the two — the best of both worlds. Great for beginners who often can’t tell when a veggie is ripe and ready to pick. If you harvest them late eat the peas inside the pods. If you harvest them early eat the pods with the immature peas still inside.
Marigolds and Borage are edible flowers help attract beneficial insects. They are super forgiving. Marigold seeds can be scattered on the soil without worry about spacing,
Parisian Carrots Not all carrots are good beginning gardeners. Since they are very stubby short carrots don’t work about spacing. Don’t worry about soil. Most root veggie need care soil development. They are great in containers because don’t produce a long taproot.
HERBS - Herbs are some of the most rewarding crops for a beginning gardener. See the most money saved from growing herbs:
Italian Large Leaf Basil all varieties are very forgiving. Most beginners grow Italian Large Leaf Basil
Thyme is a low-growing ground cover that is perennial that comes back year after year.
Cilantro is fast to mature and handles cold weather and is very resilient and easy to grow plant.Parsley (Dark Green Flat Leaf or Triple Curled) is a biannual that grows back year after year and flowers the second year. The leaves you eat grow back every year. Grow very well in containers and the garden bed.
Broad Leaf Sage is an easy to grow perennial that comes back every year. It handles low light, poor soil conditions, drought, cold and heat well.
Bouquet Dill is impossible to kill. It’s called “dill weed” for reason. It pretty much grows like weed. Sow the seeds densely without worry about spacing. Only worry is that it spreads. If it forms a flower head cut it off so the seeds don’t grow in places you don’t want them. It’s pretty much a self-seeding annual that grow like a perennial. Just sprinkle some seeds in the area you want it to grow next year.
Chives are a member of the Allium family so are a lot like an onion. They are very forgiving. Grow back year after year, handle poor quality soil, okay in low light conditions.
LEAFY GREEN CROPS
Swiss Chard is very cold hardy and very heat & drought tolerant. It grows in spring, summer and fall, so don’t worry about the best time to plant it. It grows all season long and produces a ton.
Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale Beginners can grow all kale varieties and will do great. Lacinato produces in spring, summer and fall and produces a ton like swiss chard.
Collards are similar to both kale and swiss char. They grow all season spring to fall, are heat tolerant, drought tolerant, take cold weather including a frost. They are awesome - very forgiving.Broccoli rab or spring rapini This one works for beginners while normal broccoli are for advanced gardeners. Timing is the key to growing broccoli right. Advanced gardeners in areas with unpredictable weather have a hard time growing broccoli.
Tokyo Long Bunching Onion Onions are often very difficult for a beginner. With them, you don’t worry about plant spacing, time to maturity, length of day. Because they don’t form a bulb they don’t worry about all the problems with normal onions. Although these are not a true onion, they have great onion flavor. You can grow a lot of them in a small space. They are ready to harvest in about 45 days. A regular onion time to maturity is 90 to 100 days. Twice as fast to harvest and ten time easier to grow.
Bush Beans are great for beginners, They are low plants and don’t need a trellis. They stay contained in one spot and don’t take over the garden. They produce a ton, fix nitrogen and are self-sustaining. that you need only a couple of plants to feed a family is a big boost of confidence to a beginner gardener.With all beans the more you pick the more you get.
Leaf Lettuce is a stand alone leafy green crop. Not all lettuces are recommended for beginner gardeners. Beginners should stick to leaf lettuce. The head lettuces are challenging because of timing and spacing. Leaf lettuce is very forgiving. You can just sprinkle the seeds on the soil with complete disregard for spacing and still get a harvest. Leaf lettuce is resilient to heat and can be grown 2 months longer than any head lettuce.
Beets are very forgiving and grow in spring, summer and fall. They are quick to mature in 40-60 days. Getting a large round root bulb takes more experience. So if the plant grows you still get a harvest of salad greens.
Determinate Tomatoes Not all tomatoes are created equal. Many varieties are tricky to grow. Beginners should start off growing a “determinate” tomato which has a set height, set fruit yield and set growing time. The beginner can predict what they will get and needs a reduced infrastructure. “Indeterminate” tomatoes are essentially huge vines that you need to know how to stake properly, prune properly, and keep disease-free.
Straight Eight Cucumbers are mostly forgiving for beginners because they produce large yields. They are pretty maintenance free. With most cucumber varieties be careful to pick them before they are over-ripe and bitter. But with Straight Eight cucumbers the flavor is great even when a little over ripe. All this variety is very resilient to disease and pests.
Green Purslane Although purslane is often found in gardens and considered weeds they also are great salad veggie. If you sprinkle seeds through the garden they will grow if they get sun and water. They are a perennial and will grow back year after year. Although it will grow in drought, heat, and poor soils, it will be bigger and tastier if treated right.
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