Garden Planting

I have had raised vegetables in garden beds in my yard for many years now. Each year, I try new vegetables and at the same time, stick to those that are tried and true. It’s very important to garden by trial and error the first few years to see what grows best in your soil and environment. It’s a lot of fun to grow new vegetables each year and the excitement builds to see if they will produce for you.

This year, I planted some of my “go to” vegetables, ones that I know will produce with the amount of sun my yard gets. Here is a list of things I have planted:

Peas (both sugar snap and shelling varieties)

Beans (both bush and climbing varieties)

Potatoes

Zucchini

Jalapeño peppers

Anaheim peppers

Tomatillos

Walla Walla sweet onions

Pickle Cucumbers

Spinach

Rainbow Swiss chard

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Corn

Pumpkins

Artichoke

Garlic

Radishes

Lettuce Mix

Tomatoes

Over the years with trial and error, I know that these plants produce good crops in my garden. I also know which plants like to be planted where — the peppers and tomatoes take the most sun and the onions can be in the partial shade. There are other tricks I’ve learned, too. I’ve learned to plant the peas in an area with other things because the peas will be mature early in the season and they can be removed to make space for another crop.

A new vegetable I am trying this year is Broccoli rabe (rapini), which is a more bitter type of broccoli without close-formed heads. I have it planted near my other broccoli; we’ll see if it produces as well as normal broccoli and maybe it will be a new tried and true vegetable in my garden. 

For years, I tried to grow root vegetables such as beets and carrots. Root vegetables can be grown in partial sun, so I thought my yard would be perfect for them. I have rich organic rock free soil, another reason they should grow great. Each year, I would have beautiful foliage, but no root to harvest, so I gave up and stopped wasting the valuable garden space on vegetables that don’t work well in my garden environment.

What are you going to plant? Have you planted a garden before? Do you have other questions? Feel free to comment below or message me on Facebook or Twitter! Let’s get gardening!