Popular crops..

Here are the Top Ten crops for the Midwest region, followed by other recommended crops, as rated in the "National Survey of Most Productive Garden Crops."

Top 10 Crops: Central and Midwest Region

1. Slicing tomato
2. Sweet pepper
3. Cherry tomato
4. Onion
5. Bush snap bean
6. Carrot
7. Garlic
8. Paste tomato
9. Snow/snap pea
10. Lettuce

Other Highly Recommended Crops:

Cabbage family: Broccoli, cabbage, collards, kale, kohlrabi

Cucumber family: Cucumber, pumpkin, summer squash, winter squash

Leafy greens: Arugula, chard, mustard (all types), pac choi, sorrel, spinach, turnip

Legumes: Dry soup beans, pole snap beans, shell peas, Southern peas

Root crops: Beet, parsnip, potato, rutabaga, shallot, turnip

Tomato family: Hot peppers, tomatillo

Miscellaneous: Asparagus, leek, okra, rhubarb, scallion, sweet corn

I planted all of the top 10-- guess I'm average. I wanted to do easier stuff this first year, but I plan to at least try a couple new things next year once I get the hang of it. I'm not a very adventurous veggie eater, but growing it myself is piqueing my interest, so I might branch out a bit.

I think those 'also recommended' must include everything that's not on the top ten list.

tdktara.....I think you'll find you'll enjoy more veggies when you grow them yourself. I'd never eat spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant, squash, zucchini or parsnips until I grew them myself. As you can tell from the list, I enjoyed very few veggies in my life. This year I've added turnip to the garden, another I'd never normally eat but I'm willing to try.

I wasn't keen on the Swiss chard or brussels sprouts but am growing chard again this year. No one in the family cared for the Brussels sprouts so that's off my list. I think cooking the chard differently might improve the flavor so I'm giving it another chance.

So be daring. Try something you don't normally eat. You may surprise yourself.

sadly i mus admit bout the only veggies i'll eat is any type of corn any type of tater, other than those two i'll eat peas,green beans and carrots, and even sadder is the fact i love any thing with tomato sause on it. BUT jus the thought of biting in to a ripe jus picked mater makes me qeezy jus thinkin bout it an dont get me started on lettuce lord knows i've tryed eating it even covered it with ranch dressing to no avale. wont go down now the other half she loves pretty much everything, so i garden fer her.


boog

This year I have gotten adventurous and have actually planted some of the "recommended" things. I planted some kale, purple kohlrabi, turnip, and Beet this year. My thinking is if we grow it maybe we'll eat it. Right? This is the first year I've actually focused a little more on my Spring crops instead of going straight for the summer crops.

@boog1 wrote:sadly i mus admit bout the only veggies i'll eat is any type of corn any type of tater, other than those two i'll eat peas,green beans and carrots, and even sadder is the fact i love any thing with tomato sause on it. BUT jus the thought of biting in to a ripe jus picked mater makes me qeezy jus thinkin bout it an dont get me started on lettuce lord knows i've tryed eating it even covered it with ranch dressing to no avale. wont go down now the other half she loves pretty much everything, so i garden fer her.


boog

I'm not a fan of raw tomatoes, either, but it's been a long time since I've had a fresh one. My grandpa used to do all our family gardening back when I was a picky kid, but since I've grown up, I haven't been around any gardeners. I'm going to give it a try, but my husband likes them, so if I don't eat them, he will. I'm growing three romas and two vining types and plan to make sauce out of the romas.