23 Plants to Grow in Your Vegetable Garden This Year and How to Use Them
One of my favorite days of the year is groundbreaking day in the garden. There is something so exciting about breaking ground in anticipation of what is to come for our garden. Today we are going to talk about the 23 plants to grow in your vegetable garden this year and how to use them in preparation for this growing season.
Tomatoes
First up on our list, tomatoes. What garden is complete without tomatoes? These versatile fruits are a must have for us in the garden not just for summer fresh eating, but for canning as well so we have access to tomatoes all year long without the grocery store.
Our favorite way to preserve a tomato harvest is to can whole tomatoes and tomato sauce. These two items really cut down on spend at the grocery store and the quality is so much better!
One of our favorite fresh tomatoes recipes is Cowboy Caviar. It is perfect for a summer cookout side dish!
Potatoes
The next plant to grow in your vegetable garden this year is the potato! Potatoes are my favorite thing to grow because they are just so dang amazing! You can plant a little and get a lot and they require very little from you if you plant them correctly and keep them mulched. You can learn all about planting potatoes in our recent article all about it!
Potatoes require very little harvest prep. Just dig them and allow them to cure in a well ventilated area out of direct light for a week or two before throwing into a potato bin for the winter.
Our favorite potato dish at the farm has to be scalloped potatoes!
Onions
Onions are a kitchen must have. They are used in nearly everything I cook. Spring onions are the best served up in a salad while cured onions are wonderful pickled and served as a topping. Do yourself and your pantry a favor and plant some onions this year!
You can make dinner prep so much easier by pre chopping onions and freezing them! This cuts down on prep time for dinners during those mid week rushes.
Lettuce
While lettuce is not easy to preserve, it is a great addition to any garden this year. We love fresh salads from the garden, but the rabbits and chickens also appreciate a little treat now and then. We like to plant extra to share with our feathered and furred friends.
Collard Greens
While we are on the subject of leafy greens, I would be remise to not include collard greens. What self respecting southerner doesn’t love a good ol bowl of collards with bacon!?
What I really love about collards is that they are so simple to can and preserve and better yet you don’t need a huge area to plant these delicious and nutrient dense veggies.
We love simply sautéing washed and cut greens in a little bit of bacon grease and onions until they are wilted. Serve along side some grits and you have a meal that is simple and full of goodness!
Peppers
Peppers are another favorite for our garden. We prefer to start our pepper plants from seed so we can have a better variety than what is at our local greenhouses and big box stores.
We tend to grow the hotter varieties like ghost peppers, scorpion peppers, and habaneros, but you can also find a banana pepper and green pepper or two sprinkled in there. We love to make hot sauces with our peppers, but we also love freezing them whole to use in cooking throughout the year!
One of our favorite dishes to spice up, Shrimp and Grits!
Peas
Now I am not a fan of peas, specifically canned peas, however my daughter and husband love them so they made the list. The one thing I have learned about growing peas is they need a trellis. I tried growing them the first year and they just flopped on the ground and became a big jumbled mess that didn’t produce anything.
Peas are best blanched and preserved frozen if not eaten fresh! Try fresh peas in a delicious macaroni salad this summer as a picnic side dish.
Marigolds
Marigolds are my favorite no vegetable plant in my garden. Marigolds are not only beautiful but are also wonderful companion plants for many garden veggies. Companion plants help to either keep pests away or provide additional nutrients to the soil. Marigolds are a great pest deterrent and are a great companion for many of your veggies and fruits.
Basil
Basil is another great companion plant in the garden. It love to hang out with tomatoes which is convenient if you plan to make spaghetti sauce with your tomato harvest!
We love fresh basil on pizzas or tossed into some fresh tomato sauce
Parsley
Next up on garden must grows this season, parsley! Parsley is a great fresh addition to any meal as a final garnish to really elevate your dish and make it feel extra special. What I especially love about parsley is that it is hardy! Holy smokes, it is able to withstand freezing temps and still stays green a beautiful. We have a bunch in the garden that overwintered and is bright and beautiful this spring.
Pinto Beans
Last year was my first year growing drying beans. Typically I have only don’t green beans, but I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to grow and preserve these protein filled nuggets! You really just wait until the pods all dry out and then shell them and there you have it! So simple.
I love to cook up a big pot of pinto beans with onions and butter over the wood fire in the winter and serve it alongside a big ol pan of cornbread. Yum!
Green Beans
You cannot go wrong planting green beans in your garden! I have found they are great companion plants for potatoes so I tend to plant them side by side. Green beans deter the potato bug while potatoes deter the Mexican bean beetle. It is a win win relationship.
Green beans are a little more labor intensive when it comes to canning and preserving, but we think they are worth it!
Borage
Borage is a nice to have in the garden as it is a great pollinator attractor and it is so pretty. Borage is also used in some herbal remedies however I am not that far along in my herbalist journey to be able to speak on that.
Cilantro
Right up there with basil and tomato is cilantro and tomato! Can anyone say fresh salsa all summer long! Cilantro is one of those herbs that you either love it or hate it, and we love it. It is essential in all of our Mexican and Indian recipes to add that bit of brightness at the end.
One of my favorite dishes to add a sprinkle of chopped cilantro to is our hearty Indian Stew.
Dill
Dill is a garden must have for me because not only is it essential when making pickles, but it is also the perfect host for swallowtail butterflies and other pollinators. It is also self seeding, so you plant it once and it comes back year after year.
Cabbage
Cabbage is one of my favorite vegetables. I love growing cabbage in our garden and love even more how cold hardy it is in our zone.
I love making sauerkraut for a spin on a German Brats, potatoes, and kraut as an easy weeknight meal
Broccoli
Broccoli is an easy to grow fall harvest vegetable that our family really loves. It is a great way to get fresh greens on the table in the winter. We love to serve ours up steamed with a little butter, salt, and shredded cheese!
It also preserves well with a quick blanch and freeze!
Carrots
Carrots are like onions, they go in everything. We use carrots for soups, stews, and fresh eating.
They are a little trickier to grow simply because you have to make sure you thin them properly and they need good loose soil to grow well.
Our favorite way to eat carrots is in a root vegetable medley side dish!
Yellow Squash
I grew up on summers of fried yellow squash and still love it to this day. Squash is a prolific producer so make sure you do not over plant unless you want to share with all the friends and family all summer long. Squash is a great beginner plant as it is fairly easy to grow.
I love to take extra squash and roast it with tomatoes and onions and basil to make a garden pasta salad that my kids love.
Zucchini
Zucchini is another prolific producer in the garden. It is also extremely versatile. We love to grill zucchini with onions as a side dish or bake with it and make zucchini brownies and bread!
Sunflowers
Sunflowers are a great addition to any garden as they provide beauty and bird food which helps to keep your veggies safe from their beaks.
We love planting sunflower varieties that produce large seeds for roasting and snacking. However, the birds usually get most of the seeds!
Garlic
Garlic is another staple of the pantry that provides tons of flavor to your cooking. I use garlic and onion in majority of my cooking to add a depth of flavor that we all love. My favorite is to sauté onions and garlic in bacon grease as the starter for a delicious bowl of grits. Talk about a divine smell in the kitchen!
Zinnias
Zinnias make my garden must plant list because they are so beautiful and great for pollinators. Sometimes in a vegetable garden you just need to add in some pretty flowers for the sake of pretty flowers.
I hope you found some new ideas for plants to grow in your vegetable garden this year. If you are new to gardening be sure to follow along with us on Instagram to learn some garden hacks and tips and subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date on when new posts hit the blog.
Happy Gardening!
