My 6 Favourite Vegetables to Grow in the Garden
My first garden memory when I was little was when I picked out snapdragons to grow in my mom’s garden. My favourite element from my mom’s garden was this birch tree in the front yard and the red tulips that would bloom under it in the spring. When I started living on my own, I tried to make the most out of the outside space I had. I didn’t have permanent fixtures like trees or perennials to plan around, but I would try to pot up some annuals and grow some herbs. Each year, the garden is full of a combination of flowers and edible plants. Over the years, I have dedicated more time and effort to growing different vegetables and learning how to best take care of each kind. One of the most exciting things about growing vegetables is seeing how they flower and fruit and seeing how that fruit grows from such a wee version of it’s plump and juicy final form. Anytime we harvest food, regardless of the type, it’s a reminder how much work it is to operate a farm and produce tons of food.
Gardening is one of my favourite hobbies and in so many ways is similar to sewing, I think. Both gardening and sewing require planning and involve plenty of trial and error. The act of witnessing the full lifecycle of something is so satisfying. Even with beginner-level knowledge, investing the time to sew clothes or sow seeds, results in a rewarding experience. I can spend hours behind a sewing machine or puttering around in the garden without even realizing it. One thing I like about gardening is that it’s something my partner and I do together. I take on a bit more of the planning responsibilities but the maintenance and harvesting responsibilities are shared, which is nice since gardening can be quite physically demanding.
6 Vegetables You Can Find in my Garden
The veggies that made this list simply because they are our favourites. They are not necessarily the easiest to grow or the quickest to mature but they are the ones we purchase most often from the grocery store. The small bounties of veggies and herbs we get throughout the summer reduces the number of trips we make to the grocery store and the amount of produce we buy. I’ve not actually tracked the amount of food we’ve grown or the money we’ve saved, but it’s a noticeable lifestyle change for a few months of the summer. As we continue to grow vegetables, we have two main goals: to optimize the fruit that we get from each plant (balancing quantity and quality) as well as to try to grow new varieties and kinds of food.
Lettuce
I love growing lettuce because we eat so many side salads. Being able to go into the backyard to cut fresh greens as you need them feels like a special treat. If only leaves are cut and the roots remain intact, lettuce plants can be harvested several times. What’s also great about lettuce is that it is a cool weather crop. It may eventually bolt in the heat of July, but it grows well in the spring and into the fall. It can also be wintered over in a covered bed, which is something I would eventually love to try. In the 2015 veggie garden, we put lettuce in a raised bed.
Close-up of green and red leafy lettuce, sitting in a raised bed with the bright summer sun shining through.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers have always been a favourite vegetable of mine. I love how crisp and juicy they are and how easy they are to prepare. They are also one of my favourite vegetables to watch grow from seed to fruit. Their leaves are big and fuzzy and the way they vine and spread is so cool to see. Cucumbers have been a favourite of mine since I was little. They are truly delicious on their own because they are so crisp and juicy. They can also be preserved in the fridge with a quick pickle. I also love making cucumber salads: Peel and thinly slice a cucumber, you can add thinly sliced onions if you like but all this needs is some fresh dill. For the dressing, mix a little bit of granulated sugar with white vinegar and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Bush beans
There are so many types of beans to grow but I prefer bush beans because they are more compact compared to pole beans, which need a trellis or stake on which to grow. Regardless of the type of bean you plant, one of the reasons I love growing beans is that they are nitrogen fixing. All plants need nitrogen to grow and they get this nitrogen from their roots that are buried in soil. The roots of many plants in the legume family, like beans, act as a host for helpful soil bacteria called rhizobia. These bacteria can thrive living in the roots as part of their metabolism, taking nitrogen from the air and adding it to soil. It’s not that beans themselves are adding nitrogen to the soil, as they too need nitrogen to grow, but the symbiotic relationship between bean plants and rhizobia is a great reminder that soil is so full of life. My favourite way to prepare bush beans as a side dish is a quick blanch and then served with some butter or tossed in a hot pan with chili flakes and soy sauce.
Tomatoes
I am particularly picky when it comes to the preparation of tomatoes. I absolutely love them as sauce on pizza or pasta. I will eat a heavily spiced and diced tomato preparation, like bruschetta or daal and it was only one year ago that I discovered the only way I’d eat sliced tomatoes. Nevertheless, they are a garden staple because my partner loves tomatoes in all forms and like I said, pizza and pasta. There are so many types of tomatoes that growing them presents its own learning curve, especially when it comes to pruning. It’s important to stick to pruning tomatoes early on, which optimizes the plant's metabolism so that all of its energy goes into producing a controlled amount of fruit. This maximizes the flavour and is a real life example of quality over quantity.
Herbs
So this last category is a bit of a cheat because there are so many types of wonderful herbs to grow but I consider it one category for a variety of reasons. Herbs are small and compact and perfect for smaller spaces. If you have a sunny enough space, you can grow herbs indoors (either from the start or after the summer season). A lot of herbs can also be dried and enjoyed throughout the winter. Personally, I’ve saved coriander seeds, sage, rosemary, and thyme. If anyone wants to start growing food, herbs are the best place to start and it’s best to start with your favourite herbs. Herbs are great for companion plants because they bring about beneficial insects. For example, basil and tomato plants grow really well together, as do cucumbers and dill, and these also happen to be fantastic flavour combinations! Year after year I grow: thyme, oregano, basil, parsley, chives, sage, and coriander. I’ve dried sage, thyme, and rosemary successfully. Another great use for fresh herbs is herb oil: finely chop your favourite mix of herbs, put them in a jar, and top that jar with vegetable oil (so it stays liquid even when stored in the fridge). Provided none of the greens are exposed to air, the herb oil will keep in the fridge for weeks. Top up the jar as you use the oil. You can also freeze the herb and oil mixture in ice cube trays.
Peas
Admittedly, I forgot about sweet peas when I made this initial list, despite having growing them in every garden. I may have forgotten about it because it’s an early season crop and it’s so easy. Peas can be planted directly in the soil and they are very hardy. I’ve planted peas that survived a light frost, even after the shoot is showing. Peas, like beans, host beneficial bacteria that add nitrogen back to the soil. To maximize their growth, provide them a trellis to grow. Sugar snap peas are one of my favourite vegetables to eat directly off the plant. It’s rare that peas actually make it into the house because they’re just so easy to pop into your mouth directly from the pod.
