Space has always been an issue for me, so I tend to grow vegetables that are not available in stores (and all kinds of tomatoes, obviously :)

Top faves:

French filet beans (haricot vert) "Rolande"

Eggplant "Rosa Bianca"

Eggplant "Long Purple"

Thai basil

French breakfast radish

Tomato "Orange Banana"

Melon "Charentais"

Melons. All kinds. Bar none.

Melons here too in the fruit category.

Tomatoes as the veggie (or is it a fruit too ;-)

But we're lucky to have enough space for everything, I just need to grow younger.

We plant things that can thrive with low chill hours and cool summers. For us our favorites are -

Nantes Carrots

Sugar Baby Watermelon

Ollalie Berries

Blueberries (Jewel & Emerald)

Desert Delight Nectarine

Algerian Tangerines

Baby Chinese Bok Choy

Yukon gold potatoes

Red Russian Kale

Roma Tomatoes

Tomatillos

Romaine lettuce

Spicy Arugula

Snow Pea (Oregon Sugar pod)

Cucumbers (munchers and marketmore)

Jalapeno Peppers

Asparagus (Jersey Giant and Mary Washington)

I grow things here that will continue to produce in the summer heat. Rattlesnake Pole Beans, Pinkeye Purple Hull Cowpeas, Sweet Potatoes, tomatoes.

Around here, tomatoes don't continue to produce in the summer heat. In fact, we really only have two months of tomatoes. May and June. When the heat turns on, the tomatoes turn off. They're nice, but that's largely why I don't consider them a "best". It is true that I can't grow enough of them to satisfy my family. But that's a climate issue. Tomatoes in July, August, September, and even October would be great, but ain't gonna happen.

I’m in the northeast. Most satisfying for me are things I can’t buy easily if at all: Japanese vegetables snd herbs grown from Kitagawa seeds and others, snd lots of herbs that I can use in small quantities or with abandon whenever I want. I freeze pesto from basils, mints, shiso, and dill and freeze or dry lots of others. Edible flowers. And of course tomatoes.

Always tomatoes, but after a few years in our new home (in town with little space) we had some fungal issues.

We'll be switching the tomatoes to another bed.

Anyway always tomatoes, green beans, japanese eggplant, peppers, zuk.

Tried melon last year and they all ripened at the same time! Not going to do that again for just the 2 of us!

We have a cherry and a peach tree that, until this last year were abundant.....then the squirrels came! Will have to figure out some kind of deterrent! Little dog is too short!

Pretty vague question, maybe what specific types people always grow.

I always try to grow a little of many things, and always try something new each year.

Fresh picked beans I consider good food, will eat for dinner whenever available to pick. Pole beans, pole limas, "heirloom" types.

As a collector, I may grow the same number of things each year (such as X# of beans, X# of tomatoes, X# of peppers etc.) but the varieties change in a rotation. There are a few things though that are so exceptional, I grow them every year:

Water spinach, a morning-glory relative grown for its edible shoots & young leaves, which can only be found here in Oriental markets (and seldom even there). I was fortunate years back to find seed; but it can also be grown by rooting stem cuttings. It thrives on heat, branches out when cut back, and we get 3-4 cuttings even in our short summers.

"Elfin" tomato, an open-pollinated, semi-determinate version of the grape tomato. It takes up a lot less space than most "cherry" tomatoes, has terminal flower clusters of 50 or more (!!!) and has a firm, meaty, Roma-like flavor, with very tiny seeds.

"Diamond" eggplant, an Asian variety with elongated purple fruit borne in clusters. Unlike most eggplant in my climate, it is highly tolerant of cool weather, won't wilt, and produces reliably year after year regardless of weather.

"Pentagreen" okra, a Japanese variety. Like eggplant, it was hard to find a variety which would reliably tolerate the cool snaps that occur here in summer, without wilting & dying. Pentagreen does, and its reliability allows me to make my own pickled okra, and to save my own seed from year to year.

"Greygo" pepper, a very large, sweet, pimento type with very thick walls. It is far less temperamental than bell peppers, and can be used the same ways. Most importantly for my spouse, when red ripe, is as sweet as an apple (and almost as large).

"Beaver Dam" pepper, a very large, cone-shaped pepper with medium heat, a short DTM, and walls as thick as a bell pepper. It is a great pepper for canned salsa, and because of their weight, it it really cuts preparation time... and it makes a pepper steak to die for.

"Pizza" pepper, a thick-walled hot pepper that looks & acts like an over-sized jalapeno (and probably has some in its lineage). The heavily-branched bushes produce 3-4" peppers in abundance. They are crunchy & mildly hot if picked in hot weather; but what makes them special is what happens in Fall. As frost approaches, the heat of the immature peppers diminishes, and the crispness increases. Picked at that stage, they are super-crunchy & gourmet-grade raw. They also have an incredible storage life, remaining crunchy even when the outside shrivels; I'm usually eating the last of them just before Christmas.

Either "Fortex" or "Emerite" pole beans. Both of those are 'filet' style pole beans, with firm texture, sweet flavor, and stringless even when large. They also have better than average cool-soil germination. Those two are my "go to" varieties for canning & freezing.

"Tromboncino" summer squash. Different from most summer squash, it is a Butternut relative bred to be eaten immature. Very long vines which can climb if trained to a trellis, or which will root at the nodes if allowed to trail. The best thing about Tromboncino is its high resistance to Squash Vine Borer, which is widespread here & kills zucchini and most other summer squash. The second best feature is the 24" long squash have all the seeds in the end, and are 90% solid meat. Because the center is solid, they freeze really well, and the slices become an attractive lime green throughout when blanched. You don't pick them every day like zucchini, but a single squash will feed 2-3 people.

I would have to say tomatoes. This year I will be trying dwarf types for the first time. A couple beefsteak types in different colors. I have to container garden many things so I am hoping they are great. I seem to end up with blossom end rot at the beginning of the year on many of the first tomatoes that are container grown. I will still put a couple tomato plants in a small raised bed that I put in a few years ago. I really like to grow cucumbers also. My grand children just love them and just get a thrill picking them. I am just a city gal with not much yard and like the simple things. 😏 I also have grown the tiny pumpkins on the fence for the kids. They love to watch them grow. Great idea for a posting. There sure in nothing like a home grown tomato is unanimous!!

It’s never the same thing twice due to weather and pests. Every year different things succeed or fail. But the thing which always grows well is chard.

JoJo - I’ve been looking for a French filet bean. I’ve recently discovered some organic French beans at WF and of course they don’t say which variety, but they’ve been really tender and tasty.

What do you like about the Thai Basil and Orange Banana tomato?

Dan, JoJo & vgkg - Here in Massachusetts, melons don’t usually do well for me, and I haven’t that much full sun.

Sounds like it’s warmer there.

Vgkg - Yes, let’s all grow younger! [g]

Lynda - Cool summers, in zone 9? You grow a lot that I’ve never tried, but we have hot summers. Yukon gold potato is our favorite too. And Red Russian Kale is very pretty and lasts in the cold a long time here.

Marketmore Cuke is open pollinated, right?

You can grow tangerines and Nectarines? Have your own tree?

I want to come eat at your house….lol

Yolos - I like growing pole beans. We don’t get as hot as you, but Rattlesnake seems to be popular. Not sure I can do sweet potatoes, they need a longer season then I have.

Dan, that is surprising about Tomatoes only available in May and June. Probably equal to what we get. It’s the end of July and August and maybe still picking ripe in September.

Kitasei - I always think I should have planted more herbs! [g] What do you do with your Japanese vegetables? Do you stir fry them, or something else?

Nancyjane - Too bad about the cherries and peaches. Are they difficult to grow? Have to spray? Are they the sweet cherries or the tart?

Robert - I can eat beans every night too.

Zeedman - Never heard of water spinach.

‘Elfin’ sounds good.

I’ve been thinking of trying to grow okra. I had an African stew recipe that had okra in it. I could dig that out.

Never heard of ‘Greygo’ either. We like sweet peppers. Have to pass on the hot ones, which is too bad.

‘Fortex’ and ‘Emerite’ - I’ve heard those two recommended before. I like to grow pole beans because I have a lot of vertical space - cattle panels.

I think I tried ‘Tromboncino’ squash and I’d forgotten about it. They are big, resistance to borers is a real plus that I didn’t realize.

Patti - I think it is challenging to get a good tomato from a pot. I’ve tried it a couple of times. Sounds like fun gardening with your grandchildren.

Floral - I wished I liked Chard because it is so easy. I end

up growing a lot of Kale instead. And I may try Collards because it’s supposed to have more calcium. I had to give up dairy and I’m looking for other sources for calcium.

JoJo - I’ve been looking for a French filet bean. I’ve recently discovered some organic French beans at WF and of course they don’t say which variety, but they’ve been really tender and tasty.

What do you like about the Thai Basil and Orange Banana tomato?

I get my filet beans from Renee's or Botanical Interests. Rolande is supposed to be a true delicacy but other varieties are great, too. I don't think they are that different. I also like Roma -- larger flat pods but very tender. I just like the convenience and productivity of bush beans.

Thai basil works great in stir fries, curries or anything with coconut milk :) So it's probably just a personal preference. Super disease and heat resistant.

Orange Banana is a paste tomato -- makes THE BEST sauce. It tastes like a very large, meaty, sweet Sungold. I get it from Fedco Seeds.

Thanks for this post, BTW! Very interesting to see what works for others.

pm - All common beans are open pollinated,. You can choose any fillet green bean you would like to try and grow it organically in your garden. Emerite is a fillet pole bean. I prefer Maxibel fillet beans from Johnny's and their Goldilocks yellow wax beans are also long and slender like a fillet bean but I don't think they are technically a 'fillet bean'.

I would have to list the purple asparagus varieties like Purple Passion as my favorite veggie. I can't get enough of it but unfortunately the harvest season is less than 2 months.

I also love cantaloupe (melons) but so do the raccoons in my area. for that reason, I haven't grown any in a few years but I'm going to give them another go this year. Sarah's Choice is the variety.

Prairiemoon, I just read the part about you having to give up dairy. The same happened to me (darn lactose!), so I make lots of Asian-inspired dishes with coconut milk to get that creamy texture I miss so much. Hence Thai basil...

My favorite is Japanese long cucumber. They really do grow long and don't fill up with seeds or become bitter.

Last year we grew red freddy basil which is something that's going to be on the grow list from now on. Also last year for the first time we grew chinese red noodle bean. They are tasty and productive. Our way too early snow and dropping into the mid 20s on Labor day weekend last year did them in for the season. I'm not sure if they would've continued until our normal frost date about Oct 10 but hopefully will find out this year. Will probably stagger the plantings this year if I can manage the space.

For sweet peppers we've grown lunchbox for years ... we grow them in pots and bring them inside come frost/freeze (there's usually a few trips in and out for early cold, sometimes they can just go to the porch and be covered for those), and then they live out the winter in the house, and if they make it through producing well, then back out they go in the spring. They're tasty and thin-walled (but that works well in a little pepper). 'Yummy' and 'Tweety' were some other ones we really liked. I don't know why we stopped growing 'Tweety'; we might have decided we didn't like the shape much (rounder) or it might have been an availability thing. I got 'Yum-yum' seeds for this year, which I'm hoping are pretty much the same as 'Yummy.' I've had generally good results from Antohi sweet frying pepper plants, too ... except last year's poor plant that got broken by an attacking tomato plant and succumbed to its injuries. Antohi is nice because it's a little bigger than the lunchboxes, but still not hot but flavorful and thin-walled.

For tomatoes, we've got pretty much a new lineup for this year, so we'll see on those, but 'Sunpeach' and 'Striped/Speckled Roman" are getting to repeat. We've tried a number of different cherry/grape/pear tomatoes, and they're often different, so getting to repeat is high marks for 'Sunpeach;' it's lower acid, thin-skinned, well flavored, and a nice eating side. 'Striped Roman' (sometimes called 'Speckled Roman') is a paste, and it's been repeated a couple years now and is on the list again for this year; San Marzano did well before for us, too, and might come back too (if we can figure out a spot for one). 'Sunpeach' is from seed; 'Striped Roman' we usually buy as a plant, but I'm sure seeds are available somewhere.

Lettuce I've taken to growing in my Aerogarden ... it's easy to grab and doesn't have temperature concerns (I'm bad about keeping it fed on time, so one can still have great results even if not perfect at noticing the two week feeding reminder light. Just make sure it doesn't go dry.)

Okra and bitter gourd does well in our heat. Other melons too, but dont have much space.

"Zeedman - Never heard of water spinach."

It is Ipomoea aquatica, and goes by many other names, such as kang kong (Philippines) and ong choy (Chinese). A very popular leaf vegetable throughout tropical East Asia & the Pacific Islands, because provided it is kept watered, it thrives in heat. You harvest the young shoots along with the 3-4 youngest leaves. It is very similar to eating sweet potato vine tips (the two are closely related). Seed is hard to find in the U.S., since it is classified as a noxious weed in Southern states... but bundles of shoots are often sold in Oriental markets. If you find the shoots, carefully cut or pinch off the leaves & cook them, saving the stems. If you like it, cut the thickest stems to 6", and place them in 3-4" of water to root... they will be ready to plant in 2-3 weeks. We like it as a side dish, prepared with soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic powder.

"I’ve been thinking of trying to grow okra. I had an African stew recipe that had okra in it. I could dig that out.

Never heard of ‘Greygo’ either. We like sweet peppers. Have to pass on the hot ones, which is too bad."

"Pentagreen" is only sold by one company that I know of, Sand Hill Preservation; "Greygo" is an heirloom from a Seed Savers Exchange member. If you would like to try either of them, I'd be happy to send you seed - just PM your address.

Smallish veggie garden, and I like to try different things every year, but two things I always have growing are....

1. Sungold tomatoes - a very tasty orange cherry tomato I look forward to every season.

2. Zephyr squash - a summer squash that looks like a cross between a green zucchini and a yellow squash. It has a nice texture and I like the appearance.

Great question! I'm getting ideas from all the answers.

Summer dance cucumbers convinced me cukes are yummy.

Wessels Purple Pride tomato - Excellent flavor and great for sauce and canning as well as being a heavy producer. Always grow several plants every year. Also Chocolate Stripes and Pork Chop, my favorite yellow.

Ambrosia Sweet corn - My absolute favorite sweet corn.

Sahuaro hot pepper and Biker Billy jalapeno pepper.

Emerite Filet green beans. (thanks, Jack)