Easy To Grow Vegetables For Beginner Gardeners | Useful Survival Skills

Being brand new to the gardening scene can be a little intimidating. But, good news! It doesn’t have to be! Learning to grow vegetables can be fun and easy. Not to mention incredibly useful in survival situations.

Once you’ve made the decision to give gardening a try and you’ve purchased the basic gardening necessities such as gardening tools, soil, flower pots, etc…you may look around and think “Now what?”.

After going out and buying all the gardening basics, someone who has never gardened before will often freeze at this point  A beginner may become overwhelmed with thoughts like: “What do I do next? What vegetables do I plant? Which ones are the easiest?” These thoughts are followed with “Well, maybe I’ll wait a little longer. I’ll go buy the plants next week.” Next week turns into next month, then the month after that, etc. Before they know it…the spring/summer gardening season is over! They’re left feeling disappointed but, they vow to themselves to do it next spring. Sound familiar? If so, then this article is for you!

In this article, I will share with you some of the easiest vegetables to grow for beginners! They are so easy you’ll wonder why the heck you didn’t start your garden last year!

Easy To Grow Vegetables

As the gardening season continues, I will write more on easy to grow vegetables. Before you know it, you’ll have a garden full of beautiful veggies! Let’s get you started with my top 3!

• Cherry Tomatoes
• Bell Peppers
• Jalapeno Peppers

Cherry Tomatoes

My first garden was about 15 years ago. I lived in an apartment but, I was determined to have a garden! I attempted (successfully, thank goodness) patio gardening, which means I grew all my vegetables in large clay pots right from my patio. My first vegetable? Cherry tomatoes!

If you are set on growing tomatoes in your first garden, my advice for first time gardeners is to plant cherry tomatoes as they are the easiest tomato to grow and care for…and they taste delicious! To this day they are my tomato of choice in my garden.

I always buy starter plants which you can buy at your local nursery. I plant my cherry tomatoes in large clay pots (with fresh soil) as this gives them plenty of room to flourish! If you live in a warm climate (like Texas) I recommend planting this particular tomato around the end of April to mid May. For cooler climates, I recommend late May.

They need about 6-8 hours of sun a day. For the ‘starter plant’ stage, I recommend 6-8 hours of partial sun a day. Keep the soil moist but not saturated and make sure that the pot has adequate drainage underneath. Even though I no longer live in that apartment, I still grow my cherry tomatoes in large clay pots. A plus to growing them in clay pots is you can move them around and out of the sun when they have had their 6-8 hours of sun for the day!

Bell Peppers

Bell peppers are another excellent choice for beginners! Like the cherry tomato plant, I also buy this plant as a starter plant and grow them in large clay pots.

They need frequent watering as they continue to grow but over watering (saturated soil) can make the plant wilt. The pot needs to have adequate drainage.

I find that they do their best in partial sun only. (The Texas sun can be quite harsh on the bell pepper plant.) However, full sun for 2-3 hours a day in a milder climate will benefit your bell pepper plant.

Jalapeno Peppers

Like the cherry tomato and bell pepper plant, jalapeno peppers are a must for beginners! They are an easy to care for plant and remain quite hardy throughout the season.

I recommend buying this vegetable as a starter plant as well. Also, you can choose to grow them in large clay pots as well, if you wish. In fact, they do quite well in large clay pots. One season, I planted a single jalapeno pepper starter plant in a large clay pot. That plant grew and grew and grew! I produced about 40 plus jalapenos off one plant that year!

I find that they require about 2-4 hours of full sun a day. Keep them watered daily. The soil should be moist but not saturated. Again, the pot needs to have adequate drainage.

Other Gardening Tips For My Top 3 Veggies For Your First Garden

Water these plants early in the day around 10-11 am. This time of day is when it really starts to warm up but it’s not hot yet. If the plants themselves start to look a little dry, mist the leaves lightly with a spray bottle. If the weather is hot (about 90 degrees and above) DO NOT use extremely cold water on these plants. Cool to room temperature water is recommended.

I mention clay pots throughout this article because it is what I personally chose but, resin or plastic pots will also work. Adequate drainage for any plant is important so, just make sure that any pot you choose has drainage holes at the bottom. I chose the larger sizes for my starter plants because it allowed the root systems to have plenty of room to grow, which allows the plant to grow much larger therefore, it produced more fruit.

Stay tuned for my next article “Composting for Beginners”!

Want an endless supply of food RIGHT in your backyard that requires almost zero maintenance? Look no further.

Check out my other article, 12 Budget Friendly Must-Haves For Every Beginner Gardener!

If you’re looking for useful survival gear that you can’t make at home, check out the Survival Life Store!

In need of a few Easy To Grow Vegetables? Check out these products:

• Do you prefer cherry tomatoes? This Sweet Million Cherry Tomato (Organic) Tomato 150 Seeds set is for you!
• If you like bell peppers, then this Package of 100 Seeds, Rainbow Mixed Bell Peppers is a must.
• Like a kick? Try these CERTIFIED ORGANIC SEEDS (Apr. 50) – Early Jalapeno Pepper Seeds.

Featured image via pixabay