Healthy and nutritious vegetables can be easily grown, given the right conditions. Our instructional list of over 50 annual and perennial vegetables has something for everyone in all climate zones.
A Cruciferous vegetable with a peppery flavor and come in different varieties ranging incolor, texture, and shape of leaves from different regions of the world:Ruby Streaks, Red Giant, Scarlet frills, Southern Giant Curled, Golden Frills, Amara, Garnet Giant, RedSplendor, Suehlihung No. 2. (Turnips are in the Brassicaceae (mustard) family and their edible green tops are similar to mustardgreens).
Okra grows in an elongated, lantern shape vegetable. It is a fuzzy, green colored, and ribbed pod that is approximately 3-5 inches (7.6 to 12.7 cm) in length. This vegetable is more famously known by its rows of tiny seeds and slimy or sticky texture when cut open. It’s from the Mallow family.
A vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The common onion’s close relatives include garlic, scallion, leek, chive, and Chinese onion.
A member of the family Apiaceae. It is a biennial vegetable usually grown as an annual. Its long taproot has cream-colored skin and flesh, and, left in the ground to mature, it becomes sweeter in flavor after winter frosts.
Cultivated annual plants having compound leaves with terminal leaflets modified into tendrils and edible seeds enclosed in an elongated pod. Commonly grown peas include English peas, snow or sugar peas, and sugar snap peas available in both bush and climbing varieties. There are also black-eyed, crowder (field), and chick peas (garbanzo). Legumes (lentils) are also of the pea family.
All types of peppers are a part of the Capsicum family, which includes sweet (red and green bell, Pimiento) to hot and spicy (Cayenne, Jalapeno, Anaheim, Serrano, Black, Ghost, Chilli). The Banana and Cherry come both sweet and hot.
A delicious starchy tuber. Growing potatoes isn’t difficult, but it’s important to grow them in acidic soil, to give them lots of sun and water, and to grow them in winter in warmer climates, because they do best in cool climates.
A larger member of the winter squash family that is native to North America, pumpkins are one of the oldest domesticated plants. They are widely grown for food, as well as for aesthetic purposes. Pumpkins are mostly thought of as giant orange fall decorations, but they come in many colors and sizes. There are many different varieties, but for the home grower’s purposes they fall into three main categories: Pie pumpkins, which are meant to be eaten. Large decorative pumpkins that can be carved into lanterns. The seeds in these pumpkins are edible, but the flesh is not flavorful.
A Cruciferous vegetable with a peppery flavor and come in different varieties ranging incolor, texture, and shape of leaves from different regions of the world:Ruby Streaks, Red Giant, Scarlet frills, Southern Giant Curled, Golden Frills, Amara, Garnet Giant, RedSplendor, Suehlihung No. 2. (Turnips are in the Brassicaceae (mustard) family and their edible green tops are similar to mustardgreens).
Okra grows in an elongated, lantern shape vegetable. It is a fuzzy, green colored, and ribbed pod that is approximately 3-5 inches (7.6 to 12.7 cm) in length. This vegetable is more famously known by its rows of tiny seeds and slimy or sticky texture when cut open. It’s from the Mallow family.
A vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The common onion’s close relatives include garlic, scallion, leek, chive, and Chinese onion.
A member of the family Apiaceae. It is a biennial vegetable usually grown as an annual. Its long taproot has cream-colored skin and flesh, and, left in the ground to mature, it becomes sweeter in flavor after winter frosts.
Cultivated annual plants having compound leaves with terminal leaflets modified into tendrils and edible seeds enclosed in an elongated pod. Commonly grown peas include English peas, snow or sugar peas, and sugar snap peas available in both bush and climbing varieties. There are also black-eyed, crowder (field), and chick peas (garbanzo). Legumes (lentils) are also of the pea family.
All types of peppers are a part of the Capsicum family, which includes sweet (red and green bell, Pimiento) to hot and spicy (Cayenne, Jalapeno, Anaheim, Serrano, Black, Ghost, Chilli). The Banana and Cherry come both sweet and hot.
A delicious starchy tuber. Growing potatoes isn’t difficult, but it’s important to grow them in acidic soil, to give them lots of sun and water, and to grow them in winter in warmer climates, because they do best in cool climates.
A larger member of the winter squash family that is native to North America, pumpkins are one of the oldest domesticated plants. They are widely grown for food, as well as for aesthetic purposes. Pumpkins are mostly thought of as giant orange fall decorations, but they come in many colors and sizes. There are many different varieties, but for the home grower’s purposes they fall into three main categories: Pie pumpkins, which are meant to be eaten. Large decorative pumpkins that can be carved into lanterns. The seeds in these pumpkins are edible, but the flesh is not flavorful.
The US Department of Agriculture created the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map to provide a standard definition of climatic conditions relevant to plant growth and survival. It is used by the agriculture industry to define what plants grow best in what areas. By understanding what zone you’re located in, you can find out which plants will grow best in your area and which won’t.
Dirt is not the same as soil. Simply put, dirt is soil without any life. It is sterile. Dirt is ‘dead’. It contains no biology or non in a living state. Dirt is a mixture of minerals, sand, silt and clay. Sand particles are the largest. Silt are smaller yet and clay is even smaller. Sand will allow water to easily pass through it. Silt will allow water to pass through, but slower than sand. Clay, depending on the layering and the quantity, will block water. It is why clay pots are used to store water
The following process is called an instant garden and it was made popular by Bill Mollison, the person who coined the phrase Permaculture. In short, forests have the largest productions of any growing systems in the world. They also have the widest diversity of life, both above and below the surface of the soil.
