Which vegetables do you find the most fool-proof?

I'm thinking squash/zucchini. No matter how the rest of my garden has been in years past, it seems the squash always produced. Green beans have always done well for me too, we'll see how it goes this year, they look a little yellow still. Potatoes have usually done well for me too.

And which veggies are the hardest? Maybe corn? Things that need a long growing season?

So far, I have found the sugar peas to be the easiest. I have had no trouble with them and they porvide me with pretty blossums followed by sweet and juicy pods that can be snacked on in the garden.

Now that I have bragged about these guys, I want to continue their season. I know they a cool weather crop and can be planted in the Spring and late Summer. However, I have a cherry tree in my garden which provides dappled shade. I have a 4'x4' box under it. Will I have success with a crop of sugar peas if I sow them now?

I'm no expert, but I do think they need full sun.

That having been said, a cherry tree! Wow! My g'mother in Penn. used to have, in her tiny, tiny yard, 2 cherry trees - a sweet cherry and a sour cherry. Oh, the pies she used to make, I still remember them...

Sadly, the temperature will just get too hot for them. My partial solution to this problem is planting more squares in the spring for heavy production and then I freeze the peas. I will plant more in the fall too.

camprn, when you fall plant your peas, around what date are you talking about?

The end of August, it takes about 2 months for peas.

I'll try that. Having a sweet pea crop in October would really help ease the transition into winter...

For me it's southern peas, they prefer dry roots, so if I ignore them, they just take off.

Never planted peas here, just looking for new plant ideas. We love the sugar snaps in stirfry or fresh. Get them usually at the farmers market when we can.

Simpson Elite leaf lettuce. Case closed....for me.

I planted sugar snap peas late, maybe a month ago? I am getting some small pods, and the couple I've tried taste great, but the plants are pretty pathetic looking, lol. I've never done them before but I have to believe they would normally get bigger and produce more. I'll try them again in the Fall...Anyway my point is that I don't think now would be a good time to start them!

I don't know if herbs count, but I've done basil for three years and it seems pretty much impossible to screw it up! It grows likes weeds every time. As far as veggies, jalapenos were super easy for me last year, requiring little management and producing loads of peppers even in my junky soil!

Squash is pretty easy. Seems they produce, even if you get bugs.

Small tomatoes aren't too difficult, either (cherry, roma, etc.).

I've never had great success with peas. They produce a little for me, but nothing to brag about. I still plant them every year because they are an early season crop, and I'm usually itching to get in the garden in the early spring time.

I agree with BackyardBirdGardner. Leaf lettuce is super easy. It grows fast, which means I have less time to mess it up.

Radishes. They take about a month. Wish I had more uses for them.

HieronRemade wrote:I planted sugar snap peas late, maybe a month ago? I am getting some small pods, and the couple I've tried taste great, but the plants are pretty pathetic looking, lol.

Okay, that's it. I'm having a conference with my freeze-framed garden out there. Because I planted sugar snap peas on 5/15, and they are still anywhere between 4-12" high and have barely found the trellis yet, much less get any pods.

Radishes and basil. They always do well. and OMG spagetti squash!!

NHGardener wrote:I planted sugar snap peas on 5/15, and they are still anywhere between 4-12" high and have barely found the trellis yet, much less get any pods

Ha well mine are in that same height range, probably 6-8", and though I do have pods, if I actually counted them I bet there are less than 10 out there, so it's about the same as having none, lol.

Well, that does it, first thing in the morning I am going to go examine my pea plants. Maybe just maybe there is a pod there. But as thin as they are, I doubt it.

chocolatepop wrote:Radishes and basil. They always do well. and OMG spagetti squash!!

I have a black thumb when it comes to basil but I can't kill a hot chilie pepper if I tried. I think it is interesting how many different answers your getting.

HieronRemade wrote:

NHGardener wrote:I planted sugar snap peas on 5/15, and they are still anywhere between 4-12" high and have barely found the trellis yet, much less get any pods

Ha well mine are in that same height range, probably 6-8", and though I do have pods, if I actually counted them I bet there are less than 10 out there, so it's about the same as having none, lol.

Ha mine are 10inch and they went in on 4/14 and I'm just getting a couple of flowers. Which reminds me I had better get a net on them (pea moths).

Lettuce and potatoes gangbusters.

The most likely to succeed veggies and the most likely to be loser veggies really do differ, don't they? This leads me to wonder how much of our success is predestined in the seeds we buy.

My hope is that maybe this is not all our fault. Ha. Maybe there are batches of seeds that were only meant to sprout, look promising, grow, get stunted, and never produce.

Then again, Ph.D's in soil science and botany probably would be helpful too... ha. I'll put that on my list of things to do.

Based on my limited experience - this is my first year for sfgs - I'd have to say my southern peas have been the easiest. I just plopped the seeds in the MM and they sprouted within a couple of days. They've grown steadily and except for the fact that (probably becaused I planted too many per square and they grew really tall competing for the sun) I had to tie string around them to try to contain them and give them some support after they blew over in a storm, they've been pretty much care free.

I did spray them with Neem several times when they had lots of tiny black bugs on the stems. I think they were aphids (?) because there were ants on the stems, too. The Neem seemed to take care of that situation quickly.

I now have my first pod turning purple, which means, according to what I've read, that they're getting ready to be harvested! Yeaaa!

I would say zucchini is the next easiest. They grow like crazy and put on tons of vegetables, but I have had to fight powdery mildew on them. Neem and milk spray have controlled that well, but I've had to apply that more than I had to apply the Neem to the southern peas.

Bush snap beans, while I've read they're supposed to be easy to grow, didn't work out well for me this time, but I'll try again!

NHGardener wrote:The most likely to succeed veggies and the most likely to be loser veggies really do differ, don't they? This leads me to wonder how much of our success is predestined in the seeds we buy.

I don't think it is seeds. I mean of course they may play a role but I think the climate you live in plays a far more controlling role.

I could plant peppers all day long and buy the best seeds known and I wouldn't get the pepper crop shannon does. Or the tomato crop dixie does. Or the corn crop others might get. I just don't have the weather for it.

Weather makes or breaks a crop, truly I can do everything for and in my garden to help it along, and in the end if the sun doesn't come out to play then I am doomed all my hard work be darned. I mean it's June 17th people! And it's 58 degrees here and overcast and rainy. My lows at night are still in the mid 40's.

What has grown well for me has differed between the two years I have grown. So has the weather. Last year I couldn't go wrong with beans....this year something is wrong with them, my guess is too much rain and they rotted and I just needed to wait a bit longer. So of course I may still get a good bean crop...and they still may do great for me, but the weather is going to dictate that for me.

Anyway...that's is my 2 cents.

Happy gardening y'all! And pray for sun for us northerners!

It always amazes me to see the large old farmhouses in NH, and know that in the 1700s/1800s these farmers needed to survive on what they could grow. I'm surprised any of them survived.

I'm with Jen on this one, last 2-3 years I've had basil out the you know what, but this year, it looks pathetic. Jen, you can have our already over 100 degree weather and burn bans if you like.

A great resource is your local agricultural extension office. Mine has been very helpful me over the years doing everything from providing free compost to teaching me how to make a rain barrel (well that's next month). One thing I have learned is to grow the varities of vegetables they suggest, they do better, realy. I will experiment with others each season too. So when choosing what to plant remember it is not only what vegetable you plant but also which of the many varities, some are more fool proof than others. You can contact your AEO on the web. Hope this helps.

I agree. Weather plays such a big part, you can improve conditions but you can't add sun.