Lettuce. Carrots. Radishes. Beets. Onions. Of course tomatoes and zucchini. There are bush type squash such as butter bush and honey bear. They take up very little room but the fruit are smaller. I'm a fan of squash blossoms though too so I'd grow them just for that! In my experience charentais melons take up much less room then any other. I've had a hard time growing melons and squash vertically though because I just not get to the vines fast enough the leaves "set" and won't turn toward the sun if I move them. Cucumbers are also good producers. Try things like celery, Swiss chard, kale and scallions also. A must have in my garden.

I just wanted to show some examples. This one bed which is el shaped, so equivalent to a 4 x 12 bed had lettuce, spinach, cilantro, cabbage, Swiss chard, scallions, Swiss chard, celery, peas, cucumbers, and then beans after the cucs. As you can see that's a lot of edibles in a fairly small space and the plants did beautiful! I'm also including a picture of the honey bear squash fully grown to give you an idea how big they get. They are delicious and were very early.

Oops. Forgot the other pics.

It's only lettingt me do one at a time from my phone...

One more.

"Best" is determined by what you and your family like to eat. Someone who doesn't like onions or carrots would be wasting time, energy, and space growing them.

My family loves tomatoes, peppers, onions, potatoes, beans and winter (not summer) squash so we grow them. But they hate radishes, zucchini, and spinach so why would we grow them?

So what garden vegetables do you like to eat? That will be the answer to your question.

Dave

Agree with Dave; I think you might want to modify the question as "What varieties of veggies are best in your opinion?". I think a lot of varieties out there are terribly underrated and deserve a spot in every garden that includes these veggies in the first place:

Pepper: Padron, Pasilla (chilaca)
Melon: Charentais
Potatoes: Purple peruvian
Winter squash: Kabocha
Summer squash: Cousa
Eggplant: Rosa Bianca, Udumalpet
Turnip: Hakurei

Eggplant and okra are two of my favorites. They look pretty, take up moderate space, and taste good if cooked right. But the one thing that I really wish to grow every year is pumpkin. They are just so fun to grow, and the sense of accomplishment for growing big pumpkin, breaking my own record in weight, is very great indeed.

Dave,

I am figuring this out for my family, just curious what veggies others think are the most worthy of precious garden space :)

Beyond what's "best" in any respect...one thing you might want to consider is what can you get in-season cheaply/easily vs what isn't easily available.

There's a wide variety of high quality tomatoes and peppers that aren't commonly available even during peak season because a lot aren't grown for market. If they don't interest you or what's on the market is what you like, though...well...you can pass on that.

Okra will produce like crazy during the worst of summers...and you can pack plants in rather tightly...and they generally produce well even when it's too hot for other veggies...same for yard long beans. If you don't like them, though...well...you can pass on that.

Some stuff, even in peak harvest season...is just too expensive (such as sugar snap peas around my area). It's available here, but the prices vs the tradeoff of garden space is worth more to me to just grow them.

Stuff like radishes and lettuce are so easy to grow and take up such little space (with a short harvest time) that it's not even a hassle to grow them when the climate is ideal for doing a few rounds of them.

Overall what's "best" is generally a mix of what you can source cheaply/easily elsewhere vs what you desire, but can't easily find unless it's growing in your garden...along with stuff that takes up a small footprint during ideal growing/harvest time (such as radishes and lettuce).

I started out the same ways, growing what I thought everyone usually grows (beans, tomatoes, lettuce, etc). But over time, I have realized that I tend to favor peppers, basil, green onion, and mint, as well as a few others. My family eats peppers as if they were a regular, every day vegetable. As a result, these are the main plants that I have in my small garden. Every thing else is a kind of experiment, just to see how to deal with that kind of plant or the problems it presents (always learning!)

So the best is for what you and your family would like to eat. Even if it takes a lot of space or water, if you prefer to eat that from your own yard, then it's a good plant.

Case in point is that while I also eat tomatoes, what with the birds and squirrels and a few other tomato problems, I am content to get those from the grocery store!

Eggplant "Hansel Hybrid". Even in my colder climate I start to eat them in June and they produce to the first frost. They never failed for me, easy to start from seeds and produce like crazy. The photo's taken on May 27, 2011.

Arugula is crazy expensive to buy and stupid easy to grow, takes little space, and can produce year round in a lot of zones.

Also, things that are "cut and come again" like kale, lettuce, spinach, collards, other greens. Cut the outer leaves, and several days later you've got another salad or plate of greens on your hands.

I agree with a lot of the ideas others have mentioned. I'd just add that you can get a lot of "bang for your buck" by growing garlic and herbs. Three dozen garlic plants take no more than about 15 square feet. One large planting of each of the following can produce enough dried herbs to last a year from a square foot of garden space: marjoram, oregano, thyme, sage and rosemary. If you make pesto from or freeze the more tender herbs like all the different flavored basils, cilantro, fennel and dill, you'll have enough to spice up many meals. I tend to favor the things I can't find truly fresh at the grocery store, like French filet beans, Rosa Bianca eggplant, and of course, heirloom tomatoes, like Brandwine, Mortgage Lifter and Indian Stripe. Of course zucchini is known for being prolific, but my family won't let me grow more than one. I also grow icebox watermelons, like sugar baby and tiger baby. On a trellis, they're not space hogs.

I, luckily have quite a bit of room (about 8 roughly 3x6-4x8') beds, and over a acre if I choose to plant in the ground (gophers)
If I had limited space, I would give up zucchini and corn, cause they are so cheap during the season and I haven't really had much luck freezing them.
I would never give up tomatoes, herbs (In containers can go on a deck and be used year round in the LA area!) green beans, though you might want to try bush type for size (I only do pole), lettuces (these can also be done easily in patio containers or a "salad tray", asparagus (that bed has been planted and will be there for a lonnnng time, but if you're cramped for space, don't plant them), peppers, Japanese eggplant(compact + you can slice them in half and just throw them on the grill, no salting/peeling etc!)
I'm not as much of a winter gardener, cause ( most years) it's pretty wet around here, but I always keep a couple of beds open for lettuces, chard and kale (great for sneaking into winter stews/soups/other meals!)The kids barely notice if they are chopped up really good ;), broccloli(I don't get a lot, but it keeps me gardening!) and recently cauliflower.
I have yet to be successful with a lot of root crops. I either let them go too long and they get woody, or they get lost in the winter weeds of the neglected beds...BUT with your LA weather, you have much more growing time to get out and about in your garden!
Check with your extension office and they will probably have a schedule of planting and description of plants for your area. They will also have drought info, I'm SURE this year! That's something else you have to take into account here in CA! I'm OK cause I'm on a (healthy) well, and can water as I want! If you're in town, that may be a different story! Actually, check with your city to see if they offer water saving devises, such as drip irrigation etc.
Oh my! I did go on! Anyway, The only thing I love about the LA area, is the gardening possibilities! ;) And the mountains, when they roll them out for a movie after a rain!
Have fun and garden on! Nancy

Pole beans give you a big harvest without taking up much room.

Also ditto the cut and come again type greens. Kale and chard are fairly expensive in the store, but almost maintenance free in the garden (though the chard does get leaf miners at times) produce for a LONG season and are very versatile in the kitchen as well..

Beets and turnips are a good one because you can eat the tops and the roots, so they're sort of a two for one. One indeterminate cherry tomato plant will produce loads of toms for you, so that's a good use of space as well.

Mesclun greens are good on a bang for your buck basis, since they're quick and easy to grow, but expensive in the store.

Herbs are also a good use of space.

On the other hand, I find that cabbages take up too much space for too long, considering how cheap cabbage is to buy. I still grow it, but have lots of room. Caulflower and broccoli are that way to a lesser extent, since they take up a fair bit of room, and then it's pretty much one harvest and done. Yellow onions can be purchased so cheaply around here at harvest time that I find it's not worth it to plant them.

For perennials, berries can be very worthwhile, considering how expensive they are in the store, especially for organic berries.

I prefer to grow the vegetables I eat a lot and where the difference between home grown and store bought is substantial. Topping the list:

Pole beans. Vertical, easy to grow from beans. Produce over a good period of time. My favorite is Fortex I get from Johnny's Seeds.

Indeterminate tomatoes. I also trellis these.

Bell Peppers. I like that I can leave them on the plant and pick as we eat them. We rarely give peppers away for having too much all at once. Thus, we're getting all we grow.

Carrots. These also I can pull up as we eat, though they do have limits. Leave them too long and they'll split. But they give you much wiggle room as to how long they'll last in the ground.

I did the same as you for 3 years in a row, growing butternut squash that no one in the family (besides me) ate. I finally asked why I was doing that and stopped, LOL I now only grow what we eat.

I think we've all grown things that we wonder why we did. There are quite a few things on that list for me. You look through a catalog and go "Ooh, that looks interesting." Don't get sucked in (easier said than done haha). Grow things you eat. If you can buy something at the store/farmers market that you've never tasted but are thinking about growing, do so. See if you like it before devoting garden space to a crop you *might* like.

As for what I like to grow that takes up little space. Root crops (carrots, beets, radishes, turnips), leafy greens, shallots, garlic, peppers, florence fennel, and kohlrabi (by far my favorite brassica). And I'm going to include sunchokes in this list. Sunchokes are fairly well behaved IF you can keep their roots contained (as in don't plant them in open ground) and you should easily get 10 pounds of 'chokes per plant.

Rodney

2 I grow are Carrots and Onions. I still have carrots in the freezer from last fall.

In our small space with two small children I must needs to prioritize snackables and greens.... cherry tomatoes, strawberries, and sugar snap peas... then lettuce, spinach, and kale.... then later, tomatoes and basil.... then the rest, for fun. Also, herbs are indispensable: can't not have rosemary, thyme, coriander, sage, bay, and yet others. Also, must have rare garlic and shallot.

This post was edited by bardamu on Wed, Apr 23, 14 at 22:54

"BEST" is in the mind of grower.

You have to have a list of veggies that you like and normally consume a lot of it. So I suggest you prepare a list of your priorities and the ask others opinion.

Definitely, for me, growing any vine type veggies like pumpkins, watermelons in a small garden can be wasteful. They require a lot of space to run and then they are prone to a lot of diseases. While things like beans require much less space and produce more food on the square foot basis. same is true about tomatoes, potatoes, onions. But again, what are your priorities and needs. Another example: I like brassica but they need special care (fighting worms, special weather, timing etc) So I wont grow broccoli even though I love broccoli. But instead I will grow chard. It is disease fee and easy to grow and care for. I can even co plant them between my tomatoes.

As others have said, grow what you like to eat. In my limited experience, most home grown vegetable are much better than those purchased at a grocery store. Examples: Tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, etc., etc. etc. This year we are experimenting with onions, peas, garlic, sweet peppers, and beans. So grow what you enjoy eating, but don't forget to experiment some!

Artichoke is something nobody mentioned. It can be added to landscape features and is very easy. Plus, I get 15-20 artichokes off of one good producer. Some of those are smaller but they are the best ones. Artichoke is very expensive so it's worth the space.
I love chard and always have it both in the flower beds and garden. There's only a couple of months that I can't grow it during Phoenix hot summer. I suspect you could grow it year around. And, a tiny bunch of chard is $1.99 in my store. The plant is long-lived ( I had one last 2 years!) and cut-come again. We can eat chard almost everyday, lightly stir fried with a tiny bit of EVOO, than used for a bed for poached eggs. I do the same with spinach, which I've had good luck with, even though it's only for a month or two.
Peppers and tomatoes have such variety. Peppers and eggplants grow very well for me, although I don't have great luck with tomatoes due to heat and spider mites. You might find peppers and eggplants will grow for years if you don't get freezing weather! I have a four year old pepper and my oldest eggplant lived three years before it froze!
Beets and carrots. A lot for little space.
Herbs-cilantro and parsley in winter and basil in summer. Rosemary, oregano and thyme are good all year. Mint always dies for me in August but we really enjoy mint chutney so I plant it every fall.
If you have room, consider pomegranate ,fig and citrus trees. Maybe mango,too. And guava, which can grow like a weed in the right climate.

Another that I forgot is asparagus. Takes awhile to establish but asparagus is so expensive from the store.