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THE PLANT LIBRARY

Vegetables

A harvest can start with one container. Try salad leaves and radishes in cool weather, or tomatoes and sweet peppers on a sunny summer patio.

Browse all 21 vegetables guides ↓

A FEW PLACES TO START

Start with the crop you want to pick.

Leafy greens, tender pods, and patio tomatoes use different amounts of space. Each option below links to one complete starting plan.

Spinach

Leaf spinach

For picking a few outside leaves: grow spinach in a square planter during a cool spring or fall spell.

Space: 12 × 12 × 12 in.One square planter with drainage holes. The shopping calculation uses inside dimensions.
Start with: 8 seeds → 4 plantsTwo seeds per spot, in a 2 × 2 grid, 6 inches apart.
Watch for: Heat and longer days encourage flowering, called bolting. Pick usable leaves and restart in cooler weather; extra fertilizer will not reverse it.

View Spinach care steps

Bush bean

Blue Lake 274 bush snap bean

For a warm-weather seed project: sow and thin bush snap beans, then pick the green pods while tender.

Space: 5-gallon potAt least 12 inches deep with drainage. Give the plants space beyond the rim.
Start with: 6 seeds → 3 plantsTwo seeds at each of 3 spots, about 5–6 inches apart.
Watch for: Choose Blue Lake 274, the bush type. Other beans sold as Blue Lake can be pole varieties that need tall support.

View Bush bean care steps

Cherry tomato

Compact patio cherry tomato

For tomatoes within reach on a sunny patio: begin with one compact nursery plant in a roomy container.

Space: 10-gallon potA roomy, stable container with drainage holes, at least 12 inches deep inside.
Start with: 1 compact plantChoose a dwarf or patio cherry tomato, not a full-size vine.
Watch for: Many cherry tomatoes grow into long vines. Buy a dwarf or patio variety, check its mature size, and add its cage at planting.

View Cherry tomato care steps

All vegetables growing guides.

21 guides

Green spinach leaves in wood-chip mulch, with yellowing outer leaves.

Spinach

Four plants. One pot. Fresh greens.

SeedsCool weather

See the growing steps

A pile of harvested cherry and cocktail tomatoes.

Cherry tomato

Compact patio cherry tomato

One roomy pot. Tomatoes within reach.

Nursery startWarm weather

See the growing steps

Bright green, loose ruffled leaves of Ashbrook lettuce growing in soil.

Leaf lettuce

Loose-leaf lettuce picked young; not four mature heads

Four small plants. Pick a few leaves for lunch.

SeedsCool weather

See the growing steps

Small round red radishes growing at the soil surface beneath green leaves.

Radish

Small round salad radish; not long-rooted daikon

Nine little roots. A satisfying first harvest.

SeedsCool weather

See the growing steps

Dense, deeply curled green leaves on a mature curly kale plant.

Kale

Compact edible curly kale; one plant

One leafy plant. Pick from the outside in.

Nursery startCool weather

See the growing steps

A green bell pepper with broad lobes hanging from a leafy garden plant.

Bell pepper

Sweet bell pepper

One sunny pot. Sweet peppers to pick.

Nursery startWarm weather

See the growing steps

A pile of harvested slender green snap-bean pods.

Bush bean

Blue Lake 274 bush snap bean

A few crisp green beans, without a tall trellis.

SeedsWarm weather

See the growing steps

Long green cucumbers hanging from a leafy vine in a greenhouse.

Cucumber

Bush Champion cucumber

One sunny pot, with crisp cucumbers to slice.

SeedsWarm weather

See the growing steps

Harvested orange carrots piled together with their cut stem ends facing forward.

Carrot

Short ’n Sweet carrot; direct-sown short roots

Nine little carrots, grown right where you sow them.

SeedsCool spring or fall weather

See the growing steps

Harvested white and purple-streaked garlic bulbs with dried roots and papery skins.

Garlic

Bulb garlic (Allium sativum; not elephant garlic)

Four fall-planted cloves in one wide pot—then a small summer bulb harvest.

Planting clovesFall to summer outdoors

See the growing steps

Two bunches of yellow bulb onions hang to dry with their green tops attached.

Onion

Bulb onion (Allium cepa; locally suitable day-length type)

Six onion starts in one wide pot—matched to your day-length zone.

Young onion transplantsCool start, sunny growing season

See the growing steps

Freshly dug sweet potatoes with reddish-tan skins lie on grass beside their vine.

Sweet potato

Vardaman Bush edible sweet potato

One slip in a big warm-season pot—then dig for storage roots before frost.

A sweet potato slipWarm and frost-free

See the growing steps

A green sugar snap pea pod hanging from its vine among broad leaves and curling tendrils.

Sugar snap pea

Dwarf edible Sugar Ann snap pea

Crisp edible pods from one pot of dwarf Sugar Ann peas.

SeedsCool-season crop

See the growing steps

Potato plants with compound green leaves and small white flowers growing in a garden bed.

Potato

Yukon Gold potato from certified seed tubers

Two seed potatoes in a deep pot—hill the stems and keep new tubers covered.

Certified seed potatoesCool to mild growing season

See the growing steps

Young broccoli plants growing in a New Jersey garden bed in April, with blue-green leaves.

Broccoli

Heading broccoli (Brassica oleracea Italica Group) from transplants or seed

Cool-season heading broccoli in one wide pot: two plants, even moisture, and a tight green crown before the yellow flowers open.

Transplants or seedCool growing season

See the growing steps

Zucchini foliage with large leaves in an outdoor garden.

Zucchini

Compact bush zucchini (Cucurbita pepo)

One bush plant in a large pot: steady water, open flowers, and fruit picked before it becomes a club.

Seed or one transplantWarm season

See the growing steps

Harvested beet roots with leafy tops in a basket.

Beet

Garden beet grown for the root

A cool-season root crop: sow a cluster, thin the seedlings, and pull roots before they turn woody.

SeedCool season

See the growing steps

A heading cabbage growing in a kitchen garden.

Cabbage

Compact heading cabbage

One compact heading cabbage in a wide pot, timed for cool weather and a firm head.

Transplant or seedCool season

See the growing steps

Arugula plants in flower, with small pale blooms above the leaves.

Arugula

Annual salad arugula (rocket)

A quick cool-season leaf crop: sow thickly, cut young, and resow when it bolts.

SeedCool season

See the growing steps

A harvested cauliflower curd held in a garden, with leaves around the head.

Cauliflower

Heading cauliflower, one plant

One cauliflower in a large pot: cool weather, even water, and a tight curd cut on time.

Transplant preferredCool, long season

See the growing steps

AI-generated illustration of white-stemmed Swiss chard growing directly in soil in a vegetable garden.

Swiss chard

Swiss chard in a vegetable-garden row

Pick a few outer leaves and let the center keep growing.

Young transplantsCool-season leaf crop

AI-generated illustrationSee the growing steps

Planning a raised bed? Estimate soil volume · Watering & fruit-end damage · Check drip flow · Browns and greens · Compost at home · How to grow tomatoes.

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