Starting a garden can feel overwhelming, but growing your own food doesn’t have to be complicated. These easy edible plants are perfect for new gardeners because they give you fresh, tasty food right away while helping you save money on groceries.
The flavor of homegrown vegetables and herbs beats anything you’ll find at the store. Plus, you get to decide exactly what goes into your soil and onto your plants.
Beyond the practical benefits, food gardening creates valuable learning opportunities and delivers that satisfying sense of accomplishment that comes from watching a tiny seed turn into something that feeds you.
Whether you have a massive backyard or just a sunny windowsill, the key is choosing forgiving, fast-growing plants that make you feel successful instead of frustrated.
Easy Herbs for Beginners
Let’s kick things off with some herbs.
Herbs are a great place to start with growing edible plants. They’re relatively low maintenance, require little space, and are easy to harvest as needed. Plus, fresh herbs go a long way in elevating even the simplest dish!
Basil
Basil is an easy plant for beginners. All you have to do is water it regularly enough that it doesn’t start to look dried out. It grows fast, and the more you harvest, the more it grows. Just be sure to pinch off any developing flowers to keep the plant producing the best possible tasting leaves.
You can easily preserve basil leaves in a bunch of different ways, including drying, freezing, salting, or in sauces like pesto.
Plant your basil alongside your tomatoes to easily level up your garden. Basil repels pests like hornworms and aphids that can devastate your tomatoes. At the same time, it attracts pollinators to improve the fruit set on the tomato plants.
You can also plant the two pretty close together without crowding, since basil has shallower roots. Besides, the two get used together so frequently in cooking that growing them right next to each other is super convenient.
Cilantro/Coriander
Even if you don’t love the taste of the leaves, cilantro, AKA coriander, is great to grow for the seeds. Let it bolt (flower) and then extract the seeds. You can then grind up the seeds to add a warm, citrusy flavor to your meals. Just be sure to set aside a few seeds for next year.
For those who do love the leaves, pinch off any flowers that begin to develop to maintain the leaves’ bright flavor.
Cilantro does prefer cooler weather, though, so plant outdoors in the spring and fall, or indoors over the summer. It’s also an annual, so plant it in a small pot in the spring. Then bring it indoors over the summer to get the longest possible lifespan from your plant.
It may even survive into next year, but expect a decline in the flavor of the leaves.
Parsley
Parsley is often dismissed as just a garnish, but my parsley is probably the most-used herb in my garden. In fact, next year, I’m going to plant an extra three or four plants just to keep up with our use. Fresh parsley adds a bright flavor to soups, salads, pasta, and more.
It’s also a biennial, so you should get about two years out of it. I’m all for low-maintenance gardening, so I’m a big fan of things I can plant once and get more than a year out of them.
It prefers cool weather, but in my experience, as long as you stay on top of watering it, it can manage in even hot Georgia summers. It’s also rugged! I was sure mine was a goner after I was out of town this summer and it got crispy, but it ended up bouncing right back. In fact, it looks even healthier than before.
Curly and flat-leaf varieties are both easy to grow, so you can’t go wrong either way. Curly tends to be easier to chop up, but also has a milder flavor. I alternate which one I plant each year so that I always have a bit of each.
Chives
Chives are closely related to green onions but are a different species with a milder onion flavor. This perennial herb does particularly well in containers. They can actually be quite aggressive growers, so you’ll likely want to keep them in containers to prevent them from overtaking surrounding plants.
Cutting off the flowers before they go to seed also helps prevent spreading. On the other hand, the flowers are very pretty and pollinators love them.
Personally, I like to keep some chives nicely trimmed and let others (always in containers!) flower so that the pollinators and I can all enjoy them. Flowering doesn’t impact the taste of the stems, so I can always cut the flowering ones if I want to use those chives.
Container growing also makes it easy to pull your chive plants inside to overwinter for continuous harvest. However, you can leave them outside to die back, and they’ll start growing again in the spring.
Whether you plant them in containers or directly in the ground, chives are resistant to all kinds of neglect and weather conditions. Just do your best, and they should prosper.
Mint
Even more so than chives, mint is best kept in containers. It’s a prolific spreader that can quickly take over an entire yard or garden, and once it does, it’s nearly impossible to get rid of.
On the other hand, those same traits make mint super easy for beginners. Mint doesn’t care if you ignore it; it just keeps growing. It’s also another perennial, so once it’s in the ground, it will keep producing for years.
Plus, there are tons of different varieties, all similarly easy to grow, so there’s bound to be one you like. I like mojito mint, because it’s got a mild flavor and is ideal for muddling, so it’s very versatile.
For best results, you should pinch flowers to keep the flavor and texture of the leaves optimal, and harvest regularly to encourage continuous growth. Mint does well in poor soil and partial shade, so it’s a great option for those parts of your garden where nothing else wants to grow.
Oregano
As a big fan of Mediterranean-style cooking, oregano gets a whole lot of use in my kitchen, while requiring very little maintenance on my part. You don’t even have to pinch off flowers, though if you don’t, the leaves will have a milder flavor and start to die back.
On the other hand, oregano produces lovely little white or purple flowers that are edible and make a beautiful garnish if you want to go the extra mile while preparing dish. They taste more or less the same as the leaves.
Oregano is very drought-tolerant and thrives in poor soil, so it’s great for gardeners who have more sporadic gardening habits. It’s another perennial option, too, so you can keep harvesting for years.
Rosemary
Disclaimer on rosemary: It can be hard to germinate. Once it’s grown, however, it generally thrives even when largely ignored. Fortunately, rosemary starts are cheap and easy to find, so you can pick one up pretty affordably, drop it in the ground or a container, and enjoy fresh rosemary whenever you’d like.
It even winters outdoors pretty well, especially in zones 8-11, so you probably won’t need to move it indoors over the winter like you will with most perennial herbs. Even in cooler zones, you may be able to leave it outdoors in the winter with mulch and possibly a row cover to keep it snug.
Beginner-Friendly Vegetables
Of course, when people think of growing their own food, they’re usually thinking of something a little more substantial than herbs. So let’s talk veggies:
Lettuce and Salad Greens
Most lettuces and other salad greens like spinach and arugula grow quickly and easily, within a month or two, depending on the specific variety. You can plant in waves every two to three weeks to have a continuous supply of lettuce. Harvest the outer leaves for smaller amounts of lettuce while the head continues to develop, then you can lob the whole head off.
Even better, these are cool-season crops, so you don’t have to be out in the peak heat of summer taking care of them like you do some others.
You do need to stay on top of watering with greens, though, because it has a super high water content, but very shallow roots with which to gather that water. Otherwise, though, it’s a pretty low-maintenance veggie.
Bok Choy
Similarly, cabbages like bok choy are easy-to-grow, cool-weather crops. They do, however, require less watering, which makes it even easier, lower-maintenance. You can also harvest super fast, in as little as 30 days for baby bok choy, so it’s great for people who struggle with how long it takes other veggies to grow.
Like with some of the herbs above, however, you need to make sure you avoid bolting, so be sure to plant early in the spring or late in the summer to get the longest growing season.
Microgreens
Speaking of people who want a quick payoff, microgreens are about the fastest payoff. If you’re not in the know, microgreens are the vegetable sprouts that are harvested at just one to three inches tall. Microgreens can be grown from radish, pea, sunflower, or brassicas (as well as tons of other plants), and all of those options deliver really excellent flavor.
Microgreens are ready to be harvested in just one to two weeks, after they develop their first true leaves. Despite their small size, they deliver a whole lot of flavor and nutrition. They can be added to sandwiches, salads, or eaten alone.
Since they’re so small, they don’t take a lot of space to grow, which makes them ideal for indoor gardens, and they’re especially easy in hydroponic setups.
Radishes
Letting your radish microgreens grow up doesn’t take long either. These little root veggies mature in less than a month, rarely suffer from pests, and make it obvious when they’re ready to harvest by pushing up out of the soil.
As an added bonus, they do great in dense soil, and can break it up in preparation for other plants that need looser soil. Less work and extra crops sounds good to me!
Green Beans
Garden beans were one of the first things that I grew in my own garden, and they really took off.
If you live in a super hot climate like I do, you need to stay on top of watering them so they don’t dry out, but otherwise, they’re pretty ignorable. If you choose a bush variety, you don’t even need to stake them up, though they do still appreciate the support if you’re so inclined.
Make sure you direct seed your green beans, though, because they don’t take well to transplanting.
Zucchini
Zucchini is so easy to grow that most gardeners are trying to offload their excess on friends, family, and neighbors throughout the growing season. These guys are famously prolific. Even just one plant will provide you with fresh zucchini all summer.
Be sure to give your zucchini plenty of space, though. Each plant needs about three to four feet on either side, so they’re not the most space-efficient for small growing spaces.
They don’t need a trellis, but training them to grow on one can help the plant grow in less space, prevent pests by increasing air circulation, and make it easier to spot fruits for easy, timely harvesting. Pluck fruits when they’re about six to eight inches long.
Cherry Tomatoes
I’ll be honest, I have a beef with cherry tomatoes this year. Mine is the biggest drama queen in my garden, but she’s also the only one who’s produced any tomatoes so far. It’s a bit of a love-hate relationship right now.
With that said, there’s a reason that tomatoes are the single most popularly grown vegetable and cherry tomatoes are the most popularly grown tomato. Cherry tomatoes are particularly resilient among tomato varieties, dealing well with drought and recovering quickly from health problems. They’re also less prone to splitting and disease, and are faster to ripen than larger varieties.
Cherry tomatoes can grow in the ground right after the last frost and will continue to produce until your first frost. Just be sure to stay on top of watering, especially during the peak summer temps.
Carrots
Short carrot varieties, like Romeo or Paris Market, are perfect for beginners. They’re a good choice for rocky or heavy soil and are pretty drought-resistant. You can harvest them pretty early, but they also continue to develop well in the soil until you’re ready for them.
Like green beans, carrots don’t transplant well, so direct seed them and thin to an inch or two apart once they’re about two inches tall.
Long carrot varieties, on the other hand, are trickier for beginners because they’re pickier about the soil they’re grown in. You can certainly give them a try, but you may not be as successful as with short varieties.
Easy Fruits for New Gardeners
Growing your own fruit tends to have a higher barrier of entry than herbs and veggies, if for no other reason than that fruit plants tend to take longer to produce. With that said, there are still some easy options, especially if you don’t mind a bit of a wait.
Strawberries
Strawberries are probably the easiest beginner fruit because they’re not only low maintenance but also bear fruit faster than most of the alternatives.
They’re still perennials, though, and spread easily, so you naturally get more and more plants each year. You’ll want to remove runners during the first year to help your plants establish well, but then you can let them spread.
Just a heads up: expect your homegrown strawberries to be quite a bit smaller than the ones you get at the store. That doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong, and the flavor will be even better than store-bought.
Blueberries
Blueberries are a pretty easy plant for beginners, but they’re not fast. These low-maintenance perennials will usually flower and may even produce a few berries in their first couple of years, but they won’t be prolific or, for that matter, all that good.
With that said, when you buy a blueberry plant to transplant, it’s generally going to be at least a year old and could be up to three or four years old, so you can shave a lot of that growth time (not to mention effort) by buying a plant instead of growing from seed.
Your nursery should be happy to talk to you about how old their plants are and when you can expect them to start producing fruit.
Plus, blueberry plants regularly live to 20 years or even longer, so you get plenty of fruiting years for your wait.
Pro Tip: For the best blueberries, grow two to three different varieties next to each other so that they can cross-pollinate. This causes the plants to produce larger, more flavorful berries.
Raspberries & Blackberries
Blackberries and raspberries are part of a category of berries called caneberries, which just means that they have woody stems. Other caneberries, like loganberries, boysenberries, and tayberries, are similarly easy to grow, but raspberries and blackberries are by far the most popular.
I actually grew up with a couple of raspberry bushes, and the only maintenance that we did was picking any ripe berries whenever we saw them. The plants still made it about 15 years despite the relative neglect, though, which is around the upper end of the typical lifespan for raspberry plants.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the easiest edible plant to grow from seed?
Radishes are hands-down the easiest edible plant for beginners. They germinate in just 3-5 days, mature in 25-30 days, and are virtually foolproof. Lettuce runs a close second, especially loose-leaf varieties that can be harvested multiple times.
How much space do I need for an edible garden?
You can grow edible plants in as little as a few square feet. A 4×4-foot raised bed can produce substantial amounts of salad greens, herbs, and compact vegetables. Container gardens on patios, balconies, or windowsills can provide fresh herbs and microgreens throughout the year.
When should I start my first food garden?
Start your first edible garden in spring with cool-season crops like lettuce, radishes, and herbs. These forgiving plants establish success early in the season. Add warm-season crops like tomatoes and basil after your last expected frost date.
What edible plants can I grow indoors?
Herbs thrive indoors on sunny windowsills, especially basil, chives, parsley, and oregano. Microgreens grow quickly under artificial lights, and lettuce can produce continuously in bright indoor locations. Cherry tomatoes produce indoors but need very bright light or grow lights.
How do I know when vegetables are ready to harvest?
Each vegetable has specific harvest indicators: lettuce when leaves are full-sized, radishes when roots push up from soil, tomatoes when fully colored, and herbs when plants are 4-6 inches tall. For fruits that are plucked, gently tug and it should break free. If it doesn’t, wait a bit longer. When in doubt, taste-test or harvest slightly early rather than too late.
Growing your own edible plants transforms both your garden and your kitchen. Start with just 3-5 of these easy plants, master their care, then gradually expand your edible garden as your confidence grows. Remember, every expert gardener started as a beginner, and the most important step is simply starting.
Your first homegrown tomato, fresh-picked salad, or handful of herbs will convince you that growing your own food is worth the effort. The plants in this guide are specifically chosen to ensure your success, providing delicious harvests that will have you planning next year’s garden before this year’s is finished.
