If you’re wrestling with indecision over the upcoming growing season, it might just be the year to step back and focus on the basics: What you use and eat every day. This post provides some ideas for getting back to basics and simplifying your vegetable garden selections.
![A side view of a basket of freshly harvested garden vegetables.](https://sproutedgarden.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/pantry-garden-basket-top-scaled.jpg)
For new gardeners, it can feel overwhelming planting that first home vegetable garden. Aside from learning the best practices for growing vegetables, you have to decide what you’re going to plant, as well as when and where it should all go.
Because, do you know what can grow in most U.S. backyards?
artichokes arugula asparagus beans beets broccoli broccoli raab brussels sprouts butternut squash cabbage cantaloupe carrots cauliflower celeriac celery chard chiles collards corn cucumbers eggplant endive fennel garlic ginger kale kohlrabi leeks lemongrass lettuce melons mushrooms okra onion parsnip peas peppers potatoes pumpkin purslane radicchio radish rhubarb rutabaga scallions shallots spinach squash strawberries summer squash sweet potatoes tomatillo tomatoes turnips watercress watermelon zucchini
And that doesn’t even include herbs or bush/tree fruit!
Decisions, decisions.
And wait until the gardening bug bites you hard. Then you’ll want to grow it all — and repurpose every sunlit patch of grass in your yard, no matter how tiny — because it’s just so dang cool, having delicious food spring out of the dirt.
In fact, one of the great joys of gardening is being able to step out into your own yard and pick ingredients for dinner. Whether a quick salad, or a vegetable roast on the grill, or toppings for a burger bar, or just a handful of herbs for homemade dressing or sauce, I never tire of that DIY thrill.
But every few years, I overwhelm even myself with my own gardening zeal. 2022 was one of those years. I overplanted, people. Waaay overplanted. I had enough produce in August and September that I could’ve opened my own booth at the neighborhood farmers’ market.
I grew things that I ended up not really having a use for, but felt compelled to care for anyway. Lots of experimentation that was interesting, but time-consuming. The end of the year tear-down never would have been finished if weren’t for the help of my awesome brother. By October, I was garden kaput.
![One of SproutedGarden's garden beds, mid summer.](https://sproutedgarden.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/pantry-garden-garden-bed.jpg)
Back to the Gardening Basics
This year, I’m focusing on the basics: I’m planting only the produce I use all the time. Herbs, leafy greens, and vegetables that I would keep stocked in my kitchen pantry, if fresh produce could store there like canned beans and coconut milk. They’ll just be out in the backyard instead!
And the basics is a great place for every gardener — beginner or veteran — to start (or return to!).
Gardening is work: there’s just no painting the effort a rosy pink. In mid-August, when the temperature holds steady above 90° for the second week in a row, the last thing anyone wants to be doing is watering and weeding, weeding and watering, under the blazing sun.
But that’s exactly what you have to do for late summer harvesting crops, like tomatoes, peppers, carrots, and squash, if you want to keep them healthy and bountiful.
When planning your pantry garden, be brutally honest with yourself. For example, tomatoes are the glamour girls of the garden — especially the awesome heirlooms — but make sure your summer eating and preserving plans will actually include a lot of tomatoes. Tomato plants are not the easiest to grow, so the effort needs to be worthwhile.
If you simply slice a tomato into a salad once a week, it’s probably better that you plan a weekly trip to the local farmers’ market instead. Or find a fellow gardener who will barter with you for the veggies you use infrequently.
Another example: If you’re not an ardent fan of zucchini — a super prolific producer but also a magnet for powdery mildew — but grow it because it feels like you should the motivation to care for it dwindles rapidly. Add it to your farmers’ market shopping list instead.
The List
Here’s the master list of edibles that I’ll be working on whittling down over the next couple of months, before indoor seeding starts. I think it’s a good starting point for my gardeners, but of course add your favorite vegetables if they’re not on the list!
I’m also including info on when and how I plant each crop, and where it will go. I have three types of growing areas in my yard: containers, a standing garden bench, and, of course, beds out in the yard (plus two plots in a nearby community garden).
A quick word about container gardening: just about everything can be grown in containers on a sunny porch or deck, if the container is deep enough and has the appropriate soil composition. You can even grow corn in containers, if a small yield suits your usage.
I make decisions about what goes in a pot vs. what goes in the ground based primarily on space and convenience, although some crops, like celery and ginger, grow advantageously in containers because you can more easily control their environment. Celery is not a huge fan of direct, hot sun, so in August, I can position the container in a spot that dips into the shade during the heat-height of the day, while late September’s cooler weather warrants full sun all day long.
For the convenience factor, I grow containers of my cooking staples right on my deck, near the kitchen door. Although I have a dedicated herb garden in the front yard, I also plant parsley, dill, and seasoning peppers in pots, and cilantro and salad greens in my garden bench, as well as several large planters of green onions. I love being able to dash out the door in any weather, and quickly grab what I need without getting wet or muddy.
Here we go!
Leafy Greens
![A photo trio featuring close-ups of kale, romaine lettuce, and spinach plants.](https://sproutedgarden.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/pantry-garden-leafy-greens.jpg)
Lacinato Kale (Dinosaur Kale)
- How: outdoor direct seeding
- When: early spring
- Where: garden bed
- Note: although officially a cool weather crop, kale produces for me all growing season long — even through the hottest months — right up to the first sustained hard freeze of 0° temps
Romaine lettuce
- How: outdoor direct seeding
- When: early spring
- Where: garden bench
Spinach
- How: outdoor direct seeding
- When: early spring and again in mid summer (for a fall harvest)
- Where: garden bench
Herbs
![A quad collage of herbs, featuring basil, chives, dill, and flat-leaf parsley.](https://sproutedgarden.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/pantry-garden-leafy-herbs.jpg)
Basil
- How: indoor seeding (to get an early start)
- When: March
- Where: transplanted outdoors to my herb garden. (Learn more about growing basil.)
Chives
- How: purchase starter plants (they’re usually sold in a clump)
- When: spring
- Where: transplanted to garden beds
- Note: chives have a medium-long growing season, but they’ll return year after year if you leave them be after they’ve died back. (Learn more about growing chives.)
Cilantro
- How: outdoor direct seeding
- When: early spring and again in mid summer (for a fall harvest)
- Where: containers, garden bench
- Note: as a leafy green herb, cilantro has a sadly short lifespan, as the plant readily bolts in hot weather. However, the plant as a whole does thrive, and you can easily let it flower and do its thing to produce seeds. Those seeds — known as the spice coriander in the U.S. — will last a long time in an airtight container. (Learn all about cilantro.)
Dill
- How: outdoor direct seeding
- When: continuous seedings every two weeks from early spring to late summer
- Where: herb garden, container
Mint
- How: purchased plant
- When: early summer
- Where: container
- Note: Mint is a lovely plant, but it’s an extremely aggressive grower, propagating underground through its root system, so you’ll want to grow it in a container. (Learn how to grow and control mint.)
Oregano
- How: purchased plant
- When: early summer
- Where: garden bed
- Note: oregano is a perennial in most U.S. zones and will return each year, slightly larger than the year before. My oregano plant is over 10 years old and has grown to a diameter of 4 feet across. I use it mainly to harvest and dry out for my spice rack.
Flat-Leaf Italian Parsley
- How: outdoor direct seeding
- When: early spring
- Where: herb garden and containers
Rosemary
- How: purchased transplant
- When: spring
- Where: transplanted to herb garden
- Note: in some hardiness zones, rosemary is a perennial and will survive mild winters. In my zone, I must dig it up, transplant to a container and bring it indoors.
Sage
- How: purchased plant
- When: spring
- Where: transplanted to herb garden
- Note: in most growing zones, sage is a perennial and will send out tasty leaves summer through winter. I can’t say I actually use much sage, but it has a happy home in one corner of my herb garden.
Thyme
- How: purchased plant
- When: spring
- Where: transplanted to garden
- Note: thyme is a very hardy perennial and will easily survive U.S. winters. Plant it in a permanent location where it has room to spread about 6″ every year. My thyme plant is over 6 years old at this point, and occupies a space about 3′ x 1.5′.
Vegetables
![A photo quad of vegetables featuring onions, cucumbers, carrots, and sweet potatoes.](https://sproutedgarden.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/pantry-garden-leafy-vegetables.jpg)
Garlic
- How: outdoor direct seeding
- When: mid autumn
- Where: garden bed (Learn how to grow garlic.)
Carrots
- How: outdoor direct seeding
- When: early spring
- Where: garden bed
Cucumbers
- How: both outdoor direct seeding and purchased plants
- When: early summer and consecutive seedings every few weeks
- Where: garden bed
Green onions
- How: outdoor direct seeding
- When: Spring, with staggered seeding throughout summer
- Where: container, garden
Onions
- How: purchase starter plants (they come in huge bundles – I order mine online so that they arrive very early in the spring, when onions are best planted)
- When: early pring
- Where: garden bed
Peppers (both hot and sweet)
- How: indoor seeding and purchased plants
- When: indoor seeding begins in February; purchase plants in late Spring/early summer
- Where: transplanted to garden bed
Sweet potatoes
- How: purchased plants (rooted stems known as slips)
- When: spring
- Where: garden, with lots of room for its long, slender vines to spread. (Learn more about growing sweet potatoes.)
Tomatoes
- How: indoor seeding, or purchase a transplant (learn more about starting tomatoes from seed.)
- When: Seeding begins in late March; purchase a transplant after last freeze date
- Where: transplant to garden bed or large containers.
![A selection of omegrown tomatoes, newly harvested](https://soupaddict.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/pantry-vegetable-garden-tomatoes.jpg)
Com’on, Spring!
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