5 Easy Garden Vegetables To Grow for Beginners
{Photo}Synthesis is a platform for all things green from gardening tips, floral design and for featuring others doing really cool things with plants.
When we first bought this house the garden plot was quite small. In the two years that we have lived here it's nearly quadrupled in size. Perry and I both grew up helping our families garden so we always knew that it was something that we would want to teach Winter how to do at a young age. There is something magical about the whole process! We think that gardening will be even more special this year now that Winter is at the age where she is starting to eat solids. When Perry and I first started dating, I was intimated to start gardening again since it had been years since I watched my grandparents tend to one. I think the first step to getting over your hesitation is to simply try it! Below is a list of 5 easy vegetables to grow and why. I promise you don't need a green thumb to grow these bad boys. All you need is a small pile of dirt, some seeds, water and sun.
- Kale: First off, kale is so hardy! This plant lasts well into the fall. Secondly, I love growing it because it's easy to harvest. You just go out with a trusty pair of scissors or even your hands, clip off some leaves and voilà!
- Cabbage: I had a head of cabbage in my wedding bouquet. True story! I LOVE CABBAGE! The planting season for cabbage is fairly long which means you can eat it all summer long and well into the early fall.
- Peas: Peas are the first vegetable that you can put in the ground in Spring because they are cold hardy and can survive frost a lot easier than most vegetables. Peas germinate very easily, meaning their sprouts emerge quickly after you plant them.
- Beets: They hit the mark in terms of vitamins and nutrients. They are high in fiber, have a ton of Vitamin A and C and are chalk full of iron. Plus, they are gorgeous and so easy to grow! FYI, what you plant is actually a beet pod with several seeds inside so don't be surprised when you get multiple sprouts. You'll want to thin the beets by plucking some of those sprouts. Try a roasted beet and goat cheese salad like this one. By far my second favorite food behind pizza of course.
- Radish: If you are a bit like me and totally into instant gratification, then this is the vegetable for you. It takes as little as 20 days, depending on the variety, to go from a tiny seed to a full grown radish!!! Seriously, pop them in the ground and in about 20 days they will be on your dinner plate.
Winter's outfit is from Sapling Child. I highly encourage you to check them out. They make organic and ethical kid's clothing. When you buy from Sapling you help support the JTM Children's Home in India. Proceeds help provide them with electricity, books, health care and education. The owner, Peta is a true humanitarian and quickly becoming a dear friend.
Winter's cute rattle is Finn and Emma.
Photography by Brittany Renee'