Gardening Guides
Edible Gardens
10 Foodie Favorites to Kick-Start Your Edible Garden
Get ready to plant these herbs and vegetables this spring to bring gourmet flavors from your garden into your kitchen
If you’re obsessed with fresh food and exquisite flavors, as I am, then you, too, are a foodie. The best weapon in a foodie’s arsenal is a garden plot. The reason? Growing your own ingredients means you have access to a variety of flavors you wouldn’t otherwise find at a supermarket or even a farmers market.
Bring gourmet flavors into your own home with the following herbs and vegetables, chosen for how useful they are in cooking and how quickly they can be harvested. Plant now or in spring, depending on your climate.
Bring gourmet flavors into your own home with the following herbs and vegetables, chosen for how useful they are in cooking and how quickly they can be harvested. Plant now or in spring, depending on your climate.
Plant herbs close to the kitchen so you can easily grab a few leaves while cooking. It is also a visual reminder to experiment with new herb combinations when cooking simpler dishes, like eggs or pasta, where fresh herbs can turn an ordinary dish into a gourmet meal.
Herbs to try:
- Basil
- Chives
- Cilantro
- Dill
- Rosemary
- Shiso, aka perilla. Used in Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine, this herb, which goes by both names, has hints of anise and basil.
- Purple basil, Thai basil or African basil. These deep purple leaves add color and a spicy punch to recipes that require basil. Thai basil has a licorice taste that flavors hot noodle soups like Vietnamese pho.
2. Salad Greens
Lettuce has a short shelf life once picked, and gourmet lettuce mixes are also one of the more expensive items in the grocery store. The good news is you can grow your own lettuce mix at home. The greens are beautiful in salads or tucked in a picnic sandwich.
Lettuce should be grown in cool weather or with light shade to avoid the bitter flavors that come with hot weather, when the plants begin to “bolt,” or send out flowers. Spring’s cool weather is ideal for starting lettuce.
One strategy is to start a seed mix that you can snip in a few days as microgreens or allow to mature into baby lettuce in a few weeks. Baby lettuce leaves are sweeter and less bitter. If left to grow, microgreens may mature into turnips, chard, spinach or full heads of lettuce in a month, depending on the seed mix. This strategy may be a good way to start a salad garden and see which stage of the greens appeals most to your palate and schedule.
See how to grow lettuce
Lettuce has a short shelf life once picked, and gourmet lettuce mixes are also one of the more expensive items in the grocery store. The good news is you can grow your own lettuce mix at home. The greens are beautiful in salads or tucked in a picnic sandwich.
Lettuce should be grown in cool weather or with light shade to avoid the bitter flavors that come with hot weather, when the plants begin to “bolt,” or send out flowers. Spring’s cool weather is ideal for starting lettuce.
One strategy is to start a seed mix that you can snip in a few days as microgreens or allow to mature into baby lettuce in a few weeks. Baby lettuce leaves are sweeter and less bitter. If left to grow, microgreens may mature into turnips, chard, spinach or full heads of lettuce in a month, depending on the seed mix. This strategy may be a good way to start a salad garden and see which stage of the greens appeals most to your palate and schedule.
See how to grow lettuce
Salad greens to try:
- Mesclun salad mix. This mix of young tender greens, such as lettuce, beet, chard, spinach or arugula, usually has a tasty range of shapes and colors.
- Asian salad mix. The mix of Asian greens like mizuna, Japanese spinach, red mustard and tatsoi can be harvested as tender baby greens or cooked when mature.
- Nasturtium. Rounded leaves on prolific plants, like the ones shown in the photo, are a zesty addition to salads and can be a more adventurous addition to the edible garden.
- Arugula. We roast this peppery green from Italy on top of pizza, with slabs of Parmesan cheese and a fresh egg from our little urban farm.
See how to grow salad greens
3. Edible Flowers
Many flowers are edible, and their flavors span from floral to fizzy to savory. Most of our beloved ingredients, such as broccoli, artichoke and cauliflower, are actually delicious flower buds harvested before blooming.
Try planting a few edible flowers to throw into a salad as a garnish or to decorate a dessert. Be sure to avoid flowers that have been sprayed with chemicals. Wash gently and then allow them to air-dry on a paper towel before using.
Many flowers are edible, and their flavors span from floral to fizzy to savory. Most of our beloved ingredients, such as broccoli, artichoke and cauliflower, are actually delicious flower buds harvested before blooming.
Try planting a few edible flowers to throw into a salad as a garnish or to decorate a dessert. Be sure to avoid flowers that have been sprayed with chemicals. Wash gently and then allow them to air-dry on a paper towel before using.
Beautiful candied violets are the only decoration needed for this birthday cake.
Edible flowers to try:
Edible flowers to try:
- Violet. Small and delicate, violets come in a range of vibrant colors. They have a floral taste and can be sprinkled on salads or iced drinks.
- Nasturtium. The peppery flowers lend color to salads.
- Lavender. The buds add a sweet and fragrant perfume to desserts and cocktails.
4. Peas
Edible-pod peas (snow and snap) are delicious straight off the vine and are a favorite sweet, crispy snack for gardeners. They take bit longer to develop than herbs, salad greens or flowers. The pods taste delicious on their own (a culinary gardener’s version of fast food), cut up in a salad, blended into a dip or thrown into a hot soup to blanch a few minutes before serving.
If you can’t wait for the pea pods to develop, the tender tips of the vines, shown here, including the stems, flower blossoms and curling tendrils, are delicious. Their delicate flavor can be added to a salad or lightly sauteed with oil and garlic. To harvest, start at the top of the curling pea vine and cut just above the second set of leaves.
Caution: The flowering plants known as sweet peas aren’t edible.
Edible-pod peas (snow and snap) are delicious straight off the vine and are a favorite sweet, crispy snack for gardeners. They take bit longer to develop than herbs, salad greens or flowers. The pods taste delicious on their own (a culinary gardener’s version of fast food), cut up in a salad, blended into a dip or thrown into a hot soup to blanch a few minutes before serving.
If you can’t wait for the pea pods to develop, the tender tips of the vines, shown here, including the stems, flower blossoms and curling tendrils, are delicious. Their delicate flavor can be added to a salad or lightly sauteed with oil and garlic. To harvest, start at the top of the curling pea vine and cut just above the second set of leaves.
Caution: The flowering plants known as sweet peas aren’t edible.
Although peas are notorious for taking over gardens, the following varieties are both delicious and compact.
Peas to try:
Peas to try:
- ‘Oregon Sugar Pod II’ snow pea. Harvest snow peas before they develop a string that you have to remove before eating. Oregon Sugar Pod II is reported to be virtually stringless.
- ‘Sugar Ann’ snap pea. Eat the pod and all, and they’re best when the peas puff out the pod. You can also hold the pea up to the light during the day to see how the peas are developing. It’s an early variety ideal for small spaces.
- ‘Mammoth’ snow pea. These peas need cool weather to give good yields, so starting in early spring is ideal. Plants are 4 feet tall and should be picked before the peas inside become large.
- ‘Desiree Dwarf Blauwschokkers’ garden pea. Gourmet gardeners with more experience can try this pea with violet pods, which should be harvested early while still sweet.
5. Beans
Beans are yet another high-yield, versatile vegetable for the culinary gardener. Some varieties taste best when eaten fresh, while others can be grown and dried on the vine to be used for winter stews. At the height of summer, when plants are prolific, it’s best to harvest mature beans every day to keep the plants producing. Collect the beans and store them in the refrigerator until you have enough for a serving.
Beans to try:
Beans are yet another high-yield, versatile vegetable for the culinary gardener. Some varieties taste best when eaten fresh, while others can be grown and dried on the vine to be used for winter stews. At the height of summer, when plants are prolific, it’s best to harvest mature beans every day to keep the plants producing. Collect the beans and store them in the refrigerator until you have enough for a serving.
Beans to try:
- Scarlet runner bean. This prolific producer of meaty beans requires space. The hot-orange flowers are beautiful, edible on vine and also dried.
- Christmas lima bean. The creamy, fat beans with a chestnut flavor are beautiful to harvest. They’re a specialty bean featured by gourmet purveyors. Christmas limas can be used for salads, soups, casseroles, chili and other winter stews.
6. Tomatoes
This is the gateway drug for culinary gardeners. Homegrown tomatoes are the crop that started my culinary garden adventures. After tasting a homegrown ‘Sun Gold’ cherry tomato, there was no going back.
Not all tomatoes are equal. With more than 15,000 known varieties, you can pick from ones that are fresh and tart to super sweet. The range of colors is stunning, including black, purple, green, red, orange and yellow. You can also choose varieties that taste best cooked or fresh.
This is the gateway drug for culinary gardeners. Homegrown tomatoes are the crop that started my culinary garden adventures. After tasting a homegrown ‘Sun Gold’ cherry tomato, there was no going back.
Not all tomatoes are equal. With more than 15,000 known varieties, you can pick from ones that are fresh and tart to super sweet. The range of colors is stunning, including black, purple, green, red, orange and yellow. You can also choose varieties that taste best cooked or fresh.
Tomatoes are wonderfully forgiving and a perfect vegetable for first-time gardeners. In my family’s garden, the tomatoes that sprout by themselves and receive little or no water seem to fare better than the pampered seedlings in our garden beds. This is because tomato plants should get regular water for the first month after planting, with water gradually tapering off to an absolute minimum.
Check with your local master gardeners to see which varieties grow best in your area. You can also do a search online for top tomatoes, but you may find that they change from year to year depending on what new varieties come up.
Tomatoes to try:
Check with your local master gardeners to see which varieties grow best in your area. You can also do a search online for top tomatoes, but you may find that they change from year to year depending on what new varieties come up.
Tomatoes to try:
- ‘Sun Gold’. The gold standard of cherry tomatoes, these little gems have a knockout flavor and high sugar content. I highly recommend ‘Sun Gold’ as the first tomato you try to grow.
- ‘Pink Brandywine’. This heirloom is the best variety for slicing. However, as with most large tomatoes, it is prone to cracking. It has a wonderfully rich, intense flavor, as a homegrown tomato should.
7. Peppers
Chili peppers give a flavor boost and heat to cuisines around the world, from Italy to Ethiopia to South America. Their spiciness is rated on the Scoville scale, from 0 to 500 for sweet peppers like Padrón to 1,500,000-plus for the mouth-blistering Carolina Reaper. A chili pepper becomes spicier as it ages on the plant. Additionally, the less water it receives, the more capsaicin (the chemical responsible for the heat) it produces.
Wear gloves while harvesting and cutting chili peppers to protect against skin irritation from capsaicin.
Chili peppers to try:
Chili peppers give a flavor boost and heat to cuisines around the world, from Italy to Ethiopia to South America. Their spiciness is rated on the Scoville scale, from 0 to 500 for sweet peppers like Padrón to 1,500,000-plus for the mouth-blistering Carolina Reaper. A chili pepper becomes spicier as it ages on the plant. Additionally, the less water it receives, the more capsaicin (the chemical responsible for the heat) it produces.
Wear gloves while harvesting and cutting chili peppers to protect against skin irritation from capsaicin.
Chili peppers to try:
- ‘NuMex Twilight’. This pepper matures from purple to yellow to orange and finally red.
- Shishito
- Padrón
8. Radishes
Radishes are crisp and peppery, and some varieties can be harvested in as little as three weeks. They’re delicious sliced thin and placed on toast with butter or ricotta cheese. My family loves to eat them with Mexican pozole or tacos.
Like peppers, radishes become spicier the larger they get and the hotter the weather. Spring, therefore, is one of the best times to start planting radish seeds. Stressors that often come with summer, like low moisture, heat or insects, can cause radishes to become fiery-tasting and woody.
Radishes to try:
Radishes are crisp and peppery, and some varieties can be harvested in as little as three weeks. They’re delicious sliced thin and placed on toast with butter or ricotta cheese. My family loves to eat them with Mexican pozole or tacos.
Like peppers, radishes become spicier the larger they get and the hotter the weather. Spring, therefore, is one of the best times to start planting radish seeds. Stressors that often come with summer, like low moisture, heat or insects, can cause radishes to become fiery-tasting and woody.
Radishes to try:
- ‘Easter Egg’. These radishes are like an Easter egg hunt because you never know what color will pop up out of the ground. Although the radishes in the photo are different colors, they were harvested right next to one another.
- Watermelon. These radishes have a beautiful color. It’s important to harvest them before they become too large; otherwise they’ll become woody and very spicy. You can try peeling the outside of the radish to see if this lowers the heat for you.
9. Garlic
Garlic is a must in any cook’s kitchen. The flavor and pungency is unrivaled and serves as the base for almost every dish. Yes, garlic can be bought in the store. However, to truly enjoy the butteriness of homegrown garlic, I would encourage any gourmet gardener to throw a few cloves into the ground in the spring. By fall, you should have garlic ready to cure and roast, and then spread like butter over a warm and crusty loaf of bread.
If you plant a hardneck variety, you’ll also get garlic scapes, the nutty flower buds considered one of the great gourmet garden treats, right up there with artichokes, spring peas and asparagus. The fresh garlic scape stem has been described as having the meaty crunch of asparagus, but with a chive-like sweetness, and the unopened flower bud has the texture and flavor of broccoli. Hardneck varieties have fewer cloves per bulb than softneck garlic, usually about 10, and they’re hardier if you live in colder temperatures.
See how to grow garlic
Garlic is a must in any cook’s kitchen. The flavor and pungency is unrivaled and serves as the base for almost every dish. Yes, garlic can be bought in the store. However, to truly enjoy the butteriness of homegrown garlic, I would encourage any gourmet gardener to throw a few cloves into the ground in the spring. By fall, you should have garlic ready to cure and roast, and then spread like butter over a warm and crusty loaf of bread.
If you plant a hardneck variety, you’ll also get garlic scapes, the nutty flower buds considered one of the great gourmet garden treats, right up there with artichokes, spring peas and asparagus. The fresh garlic scape stem has been described as having the meaty crunch of asparagus, but with a chive-like sweetness, and the unopened flower bud has the texture and flavor of broccoli. Hardneck varieties have fewer cloves per bulb than softneck garlic, usually about 10, and they’re hardier if you live in colder temperatures.
See how to grow garlic
10. Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes can be bought at the supermarket, but growing the more exotic varieties can be very rewarding for a gourmet gardener. You’ll need a plot of space that you dedicate to growing them for a few months until autumn, when most sweet potatoes are ready to harvest. (I use a raised bin that is 3 feet by 3 feet, with a foot of compost.) The reward is a harvest of purple, white and special single-serving sweet potatoes that make you feel as if you’re unearthing a treasure when it comes time to dig them up.
Sweet potatoes are usually grown from “slips” or cuttings made from the shoots growing from a sprouting sweet potato. You have probably seen these shoots when a potato or sweet potato has sat too long on the kitchen counter and has begun to send out little shoots from the eyes. These “slips” can be ordered from a seed catalog in the spring.
In the garden, plant slips when the soil has warmed to above 54 degrees Fahrenheit (12.2 degrees Celsius), which usually occurs in late spring. Make sure to put them in sandy, well-drained soil so that mature potatoes won’t rot come autumn, when the soil is cold and damp.
Sweet potatoes to try:
Sweet potatoes can be bought at the supermarket, but growing the more exotic varieties can be very rewarding for a gourmet gardener. You’ll need a plot of space that you dedicate to growing them for a few months until autumn, when most sweet potatoes are ready to harvest. (I use a raised bin that is 3 feet by 3 feet, with a foot of compost.) The reward is a harvest of purple, white and special single-serving sweet potatoes that make you feel as if you’re unearthing a treasure when it comes time to dig them up.
Sweet potatoes are usually grown from “slips” or cuttings made from the shoots growing from a sprouting sweet potato. You have probably seen these shoots when a potato or sweet potato has sat too long on the kitchen counter and has begun to send out little shoots from the eyes. These “slips” can be ordered from a seed catalog in the spring.
In the garden, plant slips when the soil has warmed to above 54 degrees Fahrenheit (12.2 degrees Celsius), which usually occurs in late spring. Make sure to put them in sandy, well-drained soil so that mature potatoes won’t rot come autumn, when the soil is cold and damp.
Sweet potatoes to try:
- Okinawa. A deep, dark burgundy fleshed sweet potato. It has been described as delicately smooth and extremely sweet. It can be baked, boiled or fried.
- ‘T65’. This sweet potato has bright pink skin and creamy white flesh, and its fragrance is reported to be a cross between litchi and elderflower. It is delicious in soups and purees or baked whole.
- Molokai. My family grew these rare sweet potatoes this year and just recently harvested over 10 pounds of giant purple potatoes from two slips, as seen in this photo. Some were so big that they broke in half when we pulled them out of the ground. These potatoes are intensely purple, sweet and delicious when roasted. They are fine-grained and have a chestnut flavor.
It has been years since I was a student dreaming of growing my own delicious gourmet ingredients. I’ve since built a small urban garden at my home, and my family enjoys the tasty vegetables we pull out of the ground. Starting with herbs and a few vegetables has given me the confidence to add delicious new varieties each season.
More
Seeds or Seedlings? How to Get Your Garden Started
How to Start a Cool-Season Vegetable Garden
10 Easy Edibles for First-Time Gardeners
More
Seeds or Seedlings? How to Get Your Garden Started
How to Start a Cool-Season Vegetable Garden
10 Easy Edibles for First-Time Gardeners
Fresh herbs are highly fragrant, beautiful garnishes, and they offer potent flavorings for food dishes and cocktails. For this reason, herbs are the first thing a culinary gardener should start with.
Herbs can be grown in containers, as seen here, or directly in the ground. I grow my herbs about 12 inches apart where they can flourish with plenty of soil, sun and stress. That’s right, stress.
Stress — such as heat, little water and little fertilizer once the plants are established — releases herbs’ aromatic oils, which contribute to their flavor. This can sometimes mean my herbs aren’t lush, but the trade-off is I have rosemary, basil and chive plants with a concentrated flavor and aroma that I can smell when I merely brush past.