There are dozens of benefits to growing your own herbs and vegetables. Not only is it a satisfying and rewarding hobby, it also saves you money, and is good for the environment too! Here is a list of veggies that are not only cost-effective or profitable but are also easy to grow and care for.
1. Potatoes
Recommended growing season: Early spring
Harvest Time: 75 to 135 days
Cost / Effectiveness: A single potato plant can yield up to 5 pounds of potatoes.
Tips & Hints: Do not store potatoes with apples; their ethylene gas will cause potatoes to spoil.
2. Tomatoes
Recommended growing months: March to July
Harvest Time: 60 – 85 days
Cost / Effectiveness: A single tomato plant can produce 20 to 30 pounds of fruit.
Tips & Hints: Never refrigerate fresh tomatoes. Doing so spoils the flavor and texture that make up that garden tomato taste.
3. Zucchini
Recommended growing season: Early spring
Harvest Time: 50 – 60 days
Cost / Effectiveness: A single zucchini plant can produce 6-10 pounds of fruit each season.
Tips & Hints: Zucchini are best eaten within a few days of harvesting them. Because of their high water content, they don’t store well.
4. Bell Peppers
Recommended growing season: Late winter or early summer
Harvest Time: 70 – 90 days
Cost / Effectiveness: A single bell pepper plant can yield 6 to 8 peppers.
Tips & Hints: The longer bell peppers stay on the plant, the more sweet they become and the greater their Vitamin C content.
5. Lettuce
Recommended growing season: Spring & Summer
Harvest Time: 40 – 75 days
Cost / Effectiveness: A single package of seeds can keep you supplied with fresh salad every day for approximately 5 months if replanted every 2 or 3 weeks.
Tips & Hints: Lettuce should be harvested when full size, but just before maturity. You want it young and tender.
6. Green Beans
Recommended growing season: Mid Spring
Harvest time: 50 – 60 days
Cost / Effectiveness: A single plant can produce around 3 pounds of green beans.
Tips & Hints: Green beans can be kept fresh for about 4 days, or blanched and frozen immediately after harvesting.
7. Broccoli
Recommended growing season: Spring & fall.
Harvest Time: 85 – 100 days
Cost / Effectiveness: A single plant can produce about 2 pounds of broccoli.
Tips & Hints: Broccoli will grow much better in rich soil with added compost, humus, or aged manure worked into the soil.
8. Garlic
Recommended growing season: Mid fall – early spring
Harvest Time: 7 – 8 months
Cost / Effectiveness: One pound of cloves yields some 10 pounds of crop.
Tips & Hints: Each set (bulb) is made up of several sections called cloves, held together by a thin, papery covering. Before planting, break cloves apart.
