Read time: 4 mins
This post is just to outline the plants I've chosen that I believe are good for beginners to grow and to briefly touch on what they are. I will categorise the plants into where they fit into a crop rotation plan (which I will explain in the next post), and release individual posts detailing each set of plants, which will allow me to go into more detail for choosing varieties, how to plant them, look after them, and harvest them. This post should introduce you to them and is the place where they are all grouped together for easy referral, and once the individual posts are released, you will find links to them on the names of the plants in this post.
Why did I choose these plants?
They are some of the easier plants to grow and care for, meaning they are ideal for anyone, especially those just getting into gardening or wanting to upscale a bit or branch out. They are suited to grow in the UK climate and fit within the 'standard growing season', which is spring to autumn. Due to these they are very well known and commonly grown in the UK. You may have grown them before or know someone who has grown them.
Which plants are good for beginners?
Nightshade
Potatoes and tomatoes both belong to the nightshade family, but are very different plants from one another. Potatoes grow below the ground, and are grown from the potatoes themselves, whereas tomatoes are grown above the ground and are grown from seeds. Aubergines and Peppers are also in this family, and can be grown in the UK, but aren't suited to the climate and are a bit more complex to grow. I will cover these in another post down the line, but I haven't included peppers and aubergines into my beginner plants.
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| A potato plant in flower |
Legumes
Peas, broad beans and runner beans, which I've picked from the bean family. Legumes includes peas, beans, lentils, and even peanuts. Some legume plants don't get very big and are self-supporting, such as broad beans and peas, but some, such as runner beans and French beans, are climbing plants and will need something to support the plant. Peanuts are very unique in the way they grow, flowering above ground and then going below ground in order to form the pods. There are many varieties of beans, but most of them are very similar when it comes to growing them.
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| A flowering bean plant. |
Radish, kale and cabbage, from the cabbage and mustard family. The family also includes broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, mustard, turnip and swede. Most of the crops in this family are heavy feeders, meaning they use a lot of nutrients from the soil. Radish, turnips and swede are grown below ground, while the rest are above-ground plants.
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| A red mustard plant. |
Alliums and Roots
Unlike the other categories so far, this isn't really a family of plants, but they all work similarly for crop rotation, which is why they are grouped together.
Garlic and Onions from the allium family, which also includes leeks. The 'bulb' is grown just below the surface, with a stem (or stems) growing above ground. If plants in this family flower, they can produce beautiful flower clusters at the ends of their stems, and then produce seeds that you can plant. For onions, this usually happens in their second year of growth.
Carrots, parsnips and beetroot for the 'roots', that for crop rotation also includes celeriac, celery, and salsify. With the exception of celery (where you can cut off 1 stalk at a time if you want), these plants are harvested by digging them up, as the main edible part is below ground. However, you can also eat the leaves of these plants.
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| A flowering onion. |
Salad Leaves and Gourds
Salad leaves include plants from different families, but they have similar culinary uses and are grown in a similar way, so I've grouped them up here. Lettuce and spinach are the chosen leaves. Gourds include cucumbers, melons, courgettes, squashes, and pumpkins. I've chosen cucumbers, courgettes and winter squashes here. These crops don't need to go into a rotation plan in the same way that the above categories do.
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| A blue hubbard squash. |
Flowers and Herbs
I've grouped the remaining plants here as they are a little different. There are too many flowers to go into detail for all of the recommended ones, so I will choose a few that I think are the key ones, and then mention some others as well. These can be planted wherever you want, as with herbs, and don't need to go into a rotation.
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| Flowering oregano. |
What next?
The next 4 posts will be about: crop rotation, seed planting, companion planting, and garden pests. Hopefully this will give beginners enough information so that when I talk about in the plant specific posts, you understand what I'm talking about, as that is where I will go into detail of when to plant, how to care for them, when and how to harvest them, and what varieties you might want to choose.
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