Easy to Grow Vegetables: 5 Simple Veggies To Grow At Home For Beginners

Heaven helps those who help themselves

-Samuel Smile

Hey! All you folks out there who don’t have vegetable gardens, and fantasize about having your own little vegetable garden, yet are petrified with how to begin and what to grow. Read more to learn about this.

Reason: (1) Since you are a novice, you are freaking out about how you will manage it.

Reason:  (2) You have always been discouraged about your gardening abilities (No worries, if you don’t know how to garden, your talent is latent and waiting to be unleashed!)

Reason: (3) You feel that your friends think that it is uncool to do gardening work and grow vegetables, when you can get them all in the supermarket. Well, guess what? Your friends feel the same!

Maybe, you’ll should admit it to each other and get started with growing some tastebud- bursting, mouth-watering, teeth-crunching organic home-grown veggies!

This is a manifesto for novice gardeners, the young, the young-at-heart, the not so young at heart and the amateurs who cannot resist the idea of growing their own vegetables. Or, even for the inquisitive expert gardener whose curiosity has gotten the better of the gardener, who must be wondering which vegetables on Earth have been reckoned to be simple.

• The trick to growing your own vegetables is to plan out which vegetables you want to grow.
• It should be kept in mind that the vegetables which demand an in-depth knowledge about its paraphernalia must be strictly avoided. Reason: You don’t want to mess up at your first shot; hence simplicity should be the key.
• Choose vegetables that you would love to eat and would constitute a major part of your daily culinary.

Easy To Grow Vegetables

Here goes a list of five simple to grow veggies that are so healthy, we forgot to stick to our original intention of growing veggies you would love. We beg your forgiveness!

1. CARROTS- Rich in vitamins, carrot is a vegetable that you can have raw in your salad or cooked to make your fried rice and noodles. Stay ahead of the race by attempting to grow carrots. How can one forget, that carrots constitute the bulk of ‘gajar ka halwa’, a delicious sweet made of.. I don’t know.. ask your Mom! A root vegetable by nature, new improved variety of carrots offer resistance to a wide range of pests and diseases.

• Sowing the seed– Make sure you plant the seeds 3 to 5 weeks before the onset of favourable weather. Plant seeds 3-4 inches apart in rows.

• Soil– Carrot grows best in deep-tilled sandy soil. The depth of the soil is important as it allows the vegetable to grow in length.

• Watering and Fertilizer – Water 1 inch per week and fertilize after 5-6 weeks

• Harvesting– Harvest when the carrots are 1.5 inch in diameter, preferably after 2.5 months. They taste better after a couple of bouts of cold weather.

Quick Tip: Stone free soils will ensure enhanced growth of carrots. The soil should be well-drained to prevent forking and ensuring it doesn’t fall prey to stunted growth.

2. BEANS- Protein, vitamin B, potassium and magnesium. Beans promise all these and more. If steamed beans tossed with black pepper, butter and some black salt is what the doctor recommends, then, why not beans for your garden?

• Sowing the seed– Both pole beans and bush beans are easy to grow. Bush beans should be planted 2 inches apart and pole beans require “trellises” or “cattle panels” (since pole beans are climbers) and should be planted 3 inches apart.

• Soil- Beans require loamy soil of temperatures above 10 deg. C to sprout.

• Watering and Fertilizer– Beans should be watered regularly and should only be fertilized when soil nutrient levels are known to be extremely low.

• Harvesting– Pick them at an immature stage when the seeds have not fully developed for best taste.

Quick tip: Use shallow cultivation to prevent disturbing the root system

3. TOMATOES– Fresh, fun and delectable in its every form, the tomato is a favourite with one and all.

• Sowing the seed– Plant seedlings two feet apart.

• Soil-Well-drained loamy soil along with plenty of sunlight will ensure healthy growth.

• Watering and fertilizer– Be generous while watering and pour up to 2 inches throughout the summer. Fertilize two weeks prior and after the first picking season.

• Harvesting– The perfect moment for harvesting your tomatoes is when they are a bit sturdy and red in hue.

Quick tip: It is wise to establish stakes or cages in the soil at the time of planting as it strives to keep the developing fruit off the ground.

4. RADISH– According to the Chinese, radish with cabbage and soy curd is a super healthy option.

• Sowing the seed– Directly sow seeds to an inch depth with about 2 inch spacing.

• Soil– Although it can sustain in any kind of soil just ensure that it receives moisture.

• Harvesting– Some radish will grow in three weeks from the time of planting.

Quick tip: Do not leave them in ground for long once they are ready to be picked as radish have the tendency to be spoilt.

5. EGGPLANT (Aubergine or Brinjal) – Bengalis and their ‘Begun bhaja’ (fried slices of brinjal).

• Sowing the seed-Place 3 to 4 inch tall seedlings 24 to 30 inches apart in well-prepared beds.

• Soil– Preferably sandy soil

• Watering and fertilizer-Water generously and ensure balanced fertilizer every two weeks during the growing season.

• Harvesting– Harvest period is about 16 to 24 weeks after

Quick tip: Plants which are 24 inches tall must be staked.

Plan your veggie garden being honest to yourself regarding your schedule and the kind of vegetables that you can grow. Intensive gardening is a great option as it will help to grow a wide array of vegetables in a limited space. This will be great to unleash the designer in you. But, beware, that some vegetables demand a lot of space and will crowd out small plots if you don’t plan accordingly.

With this mini guide to veggie gardening just grow, grow, and grow!