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# You Can Do It! The 10 Easiest Vegetables to Grow From Seed

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a hand with seeds from a seed packer, with starter pots and potting soil

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Olga Miltsova

## Start your vegetables from seed whenever possible

January 30, 2024

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Unless you have a short growing season in your area, most vegetables are easy enough to start from seeds that are sown directly in your garden soil. Here are 10 vegetables that are easy to start from seed.

### Why start from seed (vs. transplant)?

There’s nothing wrong with starting your garden from small plants you purchase (known as “transplants”)—many people do!

In fact, a handful of vegetables are often best bought as nursery starter plants, particularly tender vegetables: tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. These have a longer growing season.

## Read Next

Otherwise, it’s ideal to start your vegetables from seeds if possible. Here are some benefits:

1. Seeds are much cheaper, especially in greater quantities. They often keep at least a few years and can be shared with friends and neighbors.
2. Seeds offer much more variety than the often limited choice of transplants in a nursery. Just take a look at these seed catalogs and let the dreams begin!
3. Some vegetables do not survive being transplanted from one place to another.
4. Starting from seed means that you can sow seeds directly in the garden, which opens the door to growing crops such as corn, melons, squash, beans, and peas, which simply do not grow as well when transplanted from one place to another.
5. Starting plants from seed means you can ensure they are healthy and strong right from the start.

## 10 Easiest Vegetables to Grow Yourself

This is not a complete list by any means, but these are considered some of the easiest and most common vegetables that can be grown at home.

green and red leaf Lettuce varieties growing in the garden

### 1. Lettuce

We’ve never known a garden that cannot grow lettuce.

Lettuce can be sown directly in your garden bed or started indoors for transplanting. It’s one of the few crops that can be grown all year in our climate, but in hot weather, it should be shaded and harvested at smaller sizes. Lettuce growth slows in shade; it is also slower to go to seed, or “bolt,” meaning it can be harvested for longer.

An endless assortment of leaf shapes and shades of green and red means you’ll never tire of growing new lettuce varieties. Leaf lettuces can be cut as they grow, and you can enjoy several harvests from the same plant by snipping off what you need each time.

If you want full heads of romaine and head lettuce to develop, thin them. Allow for 8 to 10 inches between plants. As you thin young plants, save the delicate small leaves for salads.

Pole beans growing on trellisesPole beans require some sort of structure to climb! Photo by Smereka/Shutterstock.

### 2. Green Beans

Beans grow even in fairly poor soil because they fix the nitrogen as they go! Bush varieties don’t require trellising, but pole varieties provide a more extended harvest. In cool areas, snap beans are the easiest. Lima beans, southern peas, and asparagus beans are easy to grow in hot areas. All bean plants are fast growers and thrive in warm, moist soil.

green sugar snap peas in the gardenPeas! Photo by DigiCake/Shutterstock.

### 3. Peas

Plant peas as soon as the soil can be worked—2 weeks before your region’s average last spring frost, if possible. To harvest a continuous supply of peas during the summer, simultaneously sow varieties with different maturity dates. Then, sow more seeds about two weeks later. Continue this pattern, sowing no later than mid-June.

radishes and radish greens growing in the gardenRadishes. Photo by Udra11/Shutterstock.

### 4. Radishes

Radishes can be harvested in as little as 24 days after planting, and can be inter-planted with slower-growing vegetables. You can plant radishes as soon as you can work the soil in the spring.

Sow each seed 2 inches apart or more, or thin them to this spacing after they sprout. Cover the seeds with about half an inch of compost or soil.

Here’s a tip: Radish seeds are natural companions to carrots. Mix radish and carrot seeds before you sow, especially if your soil develops a tough crust. The quick-to-sprout radishes will push up through the soil, breaking it up for the later-sprouting carrots. As you harvest the radishes, the carrots will fill in the row.

dirty carrots that have just been pulled from the garden

### 5. Carrots

We only include carrots because they’re easy to grow as long as they’re planted in loose, sandy soil during the cooler periods of the growing season—spring and fall (carrots can tolerate frost). Not all carrots are orange; varieties range in color from purple to white, and some are resistant to diseases and pests.

Many beginners find their carrots are short and deformed. This is typically due to poor, rocky soil, so it’s crucial to provide soft, loose soil that drains well. Mix in some sand and really loosen it up. Also, it is essential to THIN carrot seedlings to the proper spacing so they’re not overcrowded. Be bold! Thin those seedlings if you want carrots to form properly.

Cucumbers in a pile after harvest

### 6. Cucumbers

Prepare in advance for cucumbers; amend the soil with a fertilizer high in nitrogen and potassium to support the plant’s large yields. If possible, plant cucumbers in the sun next to a fence. The fence will serve as support for climbing and act as a shelter. Or plant them near corn. The corn will trap the heat that cucumbers crave and serve as a windbreak.

kale leaves

### 7. Kale

Like it or not, super-nutritious kale is very hardy and can grow in a wide range of temperatures. It can be harvested at many different stages, and the buds and flowers are edible, too! Mustards and collards are closely related to kale and are easy to grow.

Set out plants any time, from early spring to early summer, and kale will grow until it gets too hot. Plant again in the fall, especially if you live in the southern United States. Another nice thing about kale is that it only gets sweeter after being hit by a couple of frosts. Try kale baked, stir-fried, or steamed. Enjoy in salads, smoothies, omelets, casseroles, or wherever you’d use spinach.

Swiss chard growing in the garden

### 8. Swiss Chard

Swiss chard—or simply “chard”—is a member of the beet family. It does well in both cool and warm weather. It is a nutritional superfood, high in vitamins A, C, and K, as well as minerals, phytonutrients, and fiber—plus, its rainbow of colors is beautiful!

fresh beetsBeets. Photo by Darasp Kran/Shutterstock.

### 9. Beets

You haven’t lived until you’ve tasted beets you’ve grown yourself. We mean it! Nothing compares to garden-fresh beets, boiled or roasted until tender.

The quirky seed capsules contain two or three beet seeds, so the seedlings will always need to be thinned. Sow the seed capsules about an inch deep and 4 inches apart.

Harvest the roots at any time until they’re the size of a tennis ball. While you’re waiting for them to plump up, why not try a few of the leaves? They can be used like spinach, giving you two harvests from one plant.

zucchini squash growing in the garden

### 10. Summer Squash (Zucchini)

Summer squash and zucchini like well-composted soil and need plenty of space (plant them 3 to 6 feet apart in warm soil and lots of sun.) Soon enough, you’ll have so many zucchini you’ll leave them on neighbors’ doorsteps! Always water at the soil level—not the leaves—to avoid powdery mildew.

The above crops are some of the easiest vegetables you can grow, but there are many, many more veggies for you to try! Check out our complete library of Growing Guides for advice on planting all the popular vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers.

You tell us! What are your favorite vegetables to grow from seed?

About The Author

#### Catherine Boeckmann



Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann



### Getting Started

### Planning For a Garden

### Planting a Garden

### Plant Growing and Care

### Harvesting and Storing Vegetables

### End of Season Gardening

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Comments

HR (not verified)

11 months 2 weeks ago

Squash, zucchini, or cucumbers that I grow start off great then always..always get borers. Any tips?

11 months 2 weeks ago

Well, that certainly sounds frustrating.

If you are growing these plants in the same garden area each year, you should plant them in a different area the following year/practice crop rotation. The squash vine borer overwinters in the ground and will be present the following year and the cycle of the pest impacting your plants is likely.

You could also grow your plants indoors longer into the growing season (if you have space) and plant them out in July once the eggs have been laid. It will greatly reduce the change that your plants will be affected. You could also try a second planting around the same time, depending on your area and length of growing season.

Another option is to consider companion planting. Check out our guide to see what options are available for the plants you plan to grow.

Anne (not verified)

1 year 8 months ago

the best container garden I had @ outside in a sunny location was Garden Peas; the blossoms were delicate and the Peas were abundant!!!

Lee (not verified)

1 year 8 months ago

what can I grow on an East facing, 6th floor balcony in Ottawa, Ontario. The wind is strong.

1 year 8 months ago

With limited light and strong winds, your best bet will likely be low-growing greens like lettuces, spinach, arugula, bok choy, and kale. Depending on how much light you do get, you could try growing root veggies like radishes and carrots as well, although carrots will need deeper pots and soft soil.

David Ngoma (not verified)

2 years 1 month ago

How do i grow garlic？Under what favourable condition should i grow the garlic.

christina (not verified)

1 year 3 months ago

Garlic is a cool weather crop in most places. It over winters in most places with a straw covering. I plant mine in zone 7B in mid-November and harvest it usually about the first of May. There are 2 major categories of garlic. Do some research on which varieties will do best in your area.

Kathy (not verified)

2 years 3 months ago

How do I grow rhubarb from seed?

2 years 3 months ago

We don’t recommend growing rhubarb from seed. Learn how to plant it at our Rhubarb Growing Guide!

cjj (not verified)

2 years 12 months ago

HELLO HOW SHOULD I TAKE CARE OF MY PEPPERS IN POTS FOR WINTER. THEY ARE ON MY BALCONY SHOULD I LIVE THEM OPEN OR SHOULD I COVER THEM WITH PLASTIC BAGS FOR WINTER - THX

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You Can Do It! The 10 Easiest Vegetables to Grow From Seed