One of the best decisions we made when we started to grow our own vegetables was picking easy vegetables to grow. UK growing seasons and conditions must be taken into account as well as your tastes. We love tomatoes, use a lot of onions and potatoes and so it made sense that we’d pick those to start our vegetable garden. We didn’t have a huge amount of space, half an allotment and a small backyard. And so we picked some of the easiest vegetables to grow in the UK to give us a lift and reduce our failure rate. Here are the best of the easy vegetables to grow, UK conditions and seasons are taken into account. We look at the best homegrown vegetables, simple vegetables to grow, and also what we think are essential vegetables to grow.
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8 of the easiest vegetables to grow in the UK
We’ve picked 8 of the easiest vegetables to grow in the UK, but bear in mind that these take into our account our tastes and what we like to cook. I’ll confess now, that I didn’t and still don’t completely like courgettes, but their versatility means that they’ve been added to this list. Oh, and I love making relish and chutneys with them. Perhaps it’s just the fact that in our first year of growing our own vegetables we had so many of them that put me off a little. I know better now and would plant accordingly.
We’ve put together this list of easy veggies to grow -and it’s based on our tastes, and what we like to eat, so when it comes to answering what’s the easiest vegetable to grow, you’ll want to take your tastes and consumption into account too. When you want easy crops to grow you need to consider what space and conditions you have for homegrown vegetables, so our guides focus on easy vegetables to grow in a pot, easy vegetables to grow outside and also some of the easiest vegetables to grow indoors.
Here are some of the best veg to grow at home that are also the easiest to grow vegetables too.
Salad Leaves are easy vegetables to grow at home in the UK
When I was growing up iceberg lettuce was a staple. I probably haven’t eaten iceberg lettuce for years, but I love the flavours and textures of different salad leaves. Before picking a variety of salad leaves, look at what it is that you enjoy eating. There’s no point growing something that you won’t eat unless you can find a way of swapping it or bartering with fellow growers for alternatives! Salad leaves are easy growing vegetables and some of the best veg to grow in the UK because they will save you a lot of money in the process.
Top Pick of Rocket, Lettuce and Salad Leaf Seeds to Grow
Salad leaves come in all shapes, sizes and are seriously quick to grow. You can expect the first harvest within THREE weeks! That’s what makes salad leaves great vegetables to grow – they’re easy to grow vegetables, they’re quick to grow vegetables and they save you money quickly. The trick with sowing salad leaves is to show them in stages, so you get a steady supply that keeps you going for weeks on end. You’ll want to look for a seed mix that gives you both variety in texture, taste and colour – try these salad leaf seed mixes for an EASY salad to grow Get used to growing salad leaves, and then expand your horizons and perhaps try spinach (read more here!) or rocket too! Oh, I love the peppery taste of rocket and really want to try growing wasabi rocket too!
Potatoes are one of the easiest vegetables to grow UK
Potatoes don’t need to be difficult and you don’t need acres of space to grow them they’re one of the easiest vegetables to grow in pots, containers or bags! We’ve grown potatoes in raised beds (want to know more about growing in raised beds? check out our guide to the best books on raised bed vegetable growing) and in bags, containers and pots. My tip? Grow potatoes in pots, containers or bags. We’ve had our best crops from the bags and pots in the back yard and they hardly take up any space at all. Usually, potatoes are planted in early March and take around 10 to 20 weeks until harvest. Our full in-depth guide on how to grow potatoes in bags is here.
Potatoes grown in bags, even old compost bags are amazingly easy vegetables to grow in the UK. The amount of maintenance needed is REALLY low. You could even grow them in a dustbin. We prefer using a bag of a container that you can “move upwards” when it’s time to harvest as that makes them seriously low maintenance vegetables to grow. It’s seriously easy to pop some seed potatoes in a bag, add some compost (read about the best compost to use here) and keep topping up the compost (don’t forget to water them too), as the tubers grow. Harvest when the leaves turn yellow. Potatoes are not only one of the easiest vegetables to grow in the UK, but also one of the best veggies to grow to save money. We’ve found over the years that the more veg we have the more we eat, and the more we use to substitute expensive ingredients. Win-win all the way! Read about potato grow bags here.
Onions are easy veg to grow UK wide
Another easy veg to grow at home is the simple onion, they’re easy to plant vegetables – just put onions sets in the ground or into a pot or container, keep the ground or compost moist, but well-drained. Here’s how to grow onions in pots and containers.
We cook a lot of Indian food and really recommend the Curry Guy’s range of books, which use onions to create a base curry sauce, which is life-changing. And so for us, knowing that onions are one of the easiest vegetables to grow was great. And it made it so much cheaper to cook dishes that we already cook anyways! Talking of books – here’s our guide to the best vegetable gardening books to get you started.
One of the best things about growing onions is that they are almost maintenance-free. If you plant “onion sets” rather than seeds you’ll probably get better and quicker results.
Buy onion sets here and get started quickly.
Plant onions in Spring (March to April in the UK) and you’ll be harvesting in the autumn. (read more about what to plant in April here) Onions need well-drained soil and sun. Do NOT overwater, but don’t let them dry out either. Be sure to remove any flowers if they appear, as you want all the energy to be concentrated on the onions themselves. We’ve also grown onions from seed in pots in the back yard (we ran out of room in the allotment) and they were just as good.
From the same vegetable family, and even easier to grow are Spring Onions and garlic. You’ll harvest them when the leaves of the onion plants have turned yellow. If you’re going to store onions then you need to let them dry in the sun for about 3 weeks. (put them in the window sills if it turns wet).
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Peas are some of the best vegetables to grow in the UK
I used to hate peas. Seriously. But that was as my pea experience was tinned peas and, even worse, mushy peas. Fresh, homegrown peas are incredible. We rarely end up with any for cooking, as we’ll eat them straight from the pod. Who am I kidding, they rarely make it back to the house, as we’ll eat them en-route! We love these particular peas for their sweetness. Growing peas in a pot is seriously easy to do.
Luckily, peas are easy to grow, they don’t need deep soil, so you can, if you’re got a wall and some way of attaching them to a frame or canes, you can grow them in a grow bag or a compost bag. I like that, as you can grow them in the backyard easily. Check out frames for peas here
These are the best varieties of Peas to grow in the UK
- Kelvedon Wonder Peas are generally a great pea variety to start with. They’re a great early cropper, mildew resistant and they have good resistance to pea wilt too. > Buy Kelvedon Wonder Peas here
- Pea Bingo (worth buying for the name alone) is a good early main crop pea. They’re easy to grow and come recommended by Kew Gardens. > Buy Pea Bingo here.
- Pea Rondo is an excellent main crop pea variety. It provides excellent yields and is great for freezing too. > Buy Pea Rondo here.
- Pea Eddy is great if you’re a big pea eater. This pea variety has excellent powdery mildew resistance and with up to 9 peas per pod AND two pods per node this is great for volume peas! > Buy Pea Eddy here.
- Pea Terrain is the best late harvesting pea around. It’s renowned for outstanding performance and is resitant to both powdery mildew and downy mildew too. Buy Pea Terrain here.
Sow peas straight into the ground from February onwards – although getting further into Spring is better – If you plant in April you’ll be harvesting from June onwards. If you pick the peas constantly, then you’ll actually help to keep it producing more peas! Grow peas in containers, grow bags or containers. Peas grow really well in cooler weather, don’t forget a support system – wires or bamboo canes. Don’t forget to keep picking. Keep the ground or compost moist and enjoy what is now one of my most favourite vegetables. Read about which is the best compost bin to make your own compost here.
Tomatoes are really easy vegetables to grow
Tomatoes are one of the UK’s easiest vegetables to grow. So easy you can grow them indoors or outdoors. And tomatoes are so, so versatile. Put them in salads, sandwiches, sauces, chutneys and relishes. Grow your tomatoes from seeds (start them off in a window sill if you do this), or buy a tomato plant and get a head start. The easiest way to grow tomatoes is to find a spot that gets a lot of sunlight and is sheltered from the wind or prevailing weather. Here are some of our tomato growing secrets to get more from your harvest.
You’ll want to pick an easy variety of tomatoes to grow to start with – and a good cropper will incentivise you more. Here are TWO great options of easy to grow tomatoes
- Gardener’s Delight Tomatoes – cherry sized, great for salads
- Supersweet Tomatoes high yield
It’ll take about 2 weeks for tomato seeds to germinate, then you can move them into individual containers or put several in a grow bag or compost bag. Tomatoes will be ready to harvest in about 2 months, you’ll know the tomatoes are ready by the glorious red colour. If you find a few stubborn green tomatoes, either make them into a green tomato relish or try ripening them by putting them in a brown paper bag with a ripe banana.
Chillies are easy vegetables to grow indoors
Chillies don’t have to be hot, but they will add significant flavour to your cooking. And, surprisingly they’re one of the easiest veg to grow UK wide. Pick your variety carefully, based on the heat you’d like from it, but bear in mind that the hooter the variety the warmer they need to be kept. The best variety for the UK climate would be a mild cayenne.
The easiest way to grow chillies is to use a chilli growing kit – here’s our guide
Grow chillies in pots on a warm patio, back yard or on windowsills that get good sunshine. You can sow chilli seeds on a window sill in spring, and they can go outside in May. (find out more about what to plant in May here) You’ll be harvesting from July onwards. Keep picking and you’ll keep the plant producing. Leave them on the plant and you’ll reduce the amount of fruit that the plant produces. You can store chillies over winter too > read our guide on how to store chillies here
Beetroot are some of the best vegetables to grow UK wide – as they’re hardy
Beetroot is a seriously easy vegetable to grow and it’s incredibly versatile to use in meals and cooking. While you’ll want to sow beetroot seeds directly into moist soil between March and July, you’ll be able to harvest from May to September. My guide to growing beetroot is here. However, in the meantime, you’ll also be able to harvest the leaves to add your salads (I LOVE beetroot leaves in salads and you can also use them to bulk out stir-fries too – we have some awesome options for preserving beetroot here) my favourite variety is Boltardy. Beetroot is one of the vegetables that you can plant in June – find more here.
It’s usual to thin out roots when the Beetroot is half-grown, but it’s not a waste, think baby beets in salads, or shredded to add to your salad leaves or more stir-fries! Beetroot is incredibly easy to grow and so satisfying – you can even use it as a base for an amazing pasta sauce!
We love home growing beetroot, as it’s an easy veg to grow in pots, and one of the easiest crops to grow at home too.
Courgettes are one of the easiest vegetables to grow
I’ll finish with courgettes, as courgettes are perhaps TOO easy to grow. In our first year we planted way more courgettes than was sensible, it saved us a lot of money, as we ended up using courgettes in everything. Even Christmas presents, as courgette relish and chutney became the way that I best dealt with a glut of courgettes.
You can get up to 30 courgettes from a single plant. This I know now. You can also easily grow courgettes in containers, so pop them in the backyard and keep them a bit more under control. Here are our favourite seeds for courgettes. Courgettes are so easy to grow as they require little maintenance, but once the fruit has appeared you’ll want to keep a close eye on them, they grow SERIOUSLY quickly – find out more about growing courgettes here. Don’t forget you can also use the courgette flower in recipes too – they’re delicious!!
Courgettes are almost too easy. All the courgettes we have grown have been prolific. Of all the vegetables grown in the UK we’ve found them the most prolific, they’re easy to grow veg and easy to use too.
If you’re looking for an easy fruit to grow, then strawberries are amazingly easy to grow – we’re written about them here
Final Words on Easy Vegetables to Grow UK
Variety is the spice of life, and selecting several easy to grow vegetables that are best suited to the UK climate is one of the best ways to get started growing vegetables. When you’re looking for what vegetables are easy to grow, then make sure that you pick vegetables that you currently eat, or that you’re going to use in recipes. Pick easy to grow vegetables UK wide and you’ll get much more satisfaction, much more quickly and get inspired to try different vegetables as the season’s progress! Good luck and keep us posted on how you do!
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