As a gardener, it is tempting to grow just about everything under the sun. But there are nine crops that I love to grow every single season. In this article, I’m going to tell you exactly what they are.

Squash

My first must-grow veggie is, believe it or not, squash. This is something that most gardeners, by the end of the season, are so sick of. You’re literally chucking it at your neighbor’s house. You’re giving it to your friends. But this variety, the center-cut squash from Row Seven Seeds, is really a standout in the squash category. The flavor is really good. It’s dense, not watery, and extremely productive. 

It’s also great as a cover over certain parts of your garden. The squash leaves can actually act as a bit of a shade cover for some of your more sensitive plants like arugula. As we go into summer, it’s not really going to want to be growing in this environment. But if it’s shaded for a little bit, then it can be. The summer squash lets enough light through but stops enough of the heat that it can be a good companion plant. The Seneca squash is my first pick for a crop I will always grow. 

Tomatoes

I will always grow tomatoes no matter what. Tomatoes, in general, are by far my favorite garden vegetable. Nothing gets me more excited than growing tomatoes every single spring and summer. You just can’t beat the flavor, aroma, texture—you name it—of a garden-grown tomato. I haven’t even found a farmer’s market tomato that competes with a homegrown tomato. So tomatoes, definitely bar none, I will be growing no matter where I live. I’ll figure it out. Even if I’m in Antarctica, I’ll figure out a solution.

My Favorite Pick

When it comes to a particular variety of tomatoes, my personal favorite has become the Cherokee Purple tomato. It’s not just a pretty tomato. It has a kind of purplish-brown color to it, but it has such a rich, complex flavor that other tomatoes just don’t have. A lot of tomatoes you get will either be sort of sweet or acidic. The Cherokee Purple, to me, is a perfect balance of that sweet and acid flavor. It also has this deeper, rich, sort of earthy umami kind of smokiness to it. I don’t know how to best describe it, but it just has a flavor that’s deeper than a regular tomato.

The other thing that I really like about it is that it has a nice firm, but kind of silky flesh. It’s just wonderful to slice up on some fresh sourdough bread, in a salad, or just eating it straight up with salt. I love Cherokee Purple tomatoes. Definitely try it if you haven’t, definitely grow it if you haven’t.

Kale

Another plant that I always have in the garden is kale. Being in the Pacific Northwest, this climate is perfect for all sorts of brassicas. It’s cool and moist, and for these cool-season crops, they do really well throughout the year.

My Favorite Pick

I’ve grown many varieties, some of them quite frilly, some that grow really tall, but I have fallen in love with Dazzling Blue kale with its flat leaves. The blue-green leaves have this beautiful, striking purple midrib that adds a lot of ornamental value, whether you’re growing it in the garden or in a container. With flat leaves, it’s a lot easier to spot aphids. If they’re on the underside, there’s not a lot of space for them to hide out, and you can easily blast them off with a jet of water.

It’s a great plant, really delicious. I also like to grow them into these big tall plants, letting them overwinter and flower in the spring for the bees. The yellow flowers are edible as well. 

Garlic

I will always grow garlic in my garden. Once you figure out how to grow this crop successfully—it took us maybe two years to figure out the right varieties or the right techniques for our climate—it becomes a staple because it stays good for so long once you’re done growing it. You use it in pretty much everything in your cooking.

How to Store Garlic

All you need to do is trim the root side and chop off the neck. If there’s dirt on it, just brush it off and maybe take away one of the papery layers. You’ll have an absolutely gorgeous head of garlic that you can store. If you’re storing a hard neck, it will store for three or four months. Soft necks will store for six to nine months. Once you figure out how to grow this crop, it is one of the best things you can have for long-term flavor in your kitchen. I have a lot of success with it, which is why it will always be in my garden.

Biquinho Pepper

The next plant on the list is the Biquinho pepper, also called little beak peppers. They’re popular in Brazil. I’ve been growing the yellow and red varieties for a while now. It’s become one of our favorite peppers to grow. It makes a fantastic hot sauce with a rich, sweet tropical flavor, some tartness, and the perfect amount of heat. These are the kind of peppers where you can actually eat the whole thing raw. They definitely have a kick, but it’s not enough to knock you out.

I like growing sweet peppers and slightly spicy peppers, the kind where you can actually eat the whole thing and appreciate the flavor. 

Pole Beans

I love growing pole beans because the plants are super easy and not fussy. I like training them up nice and tall. Not only is it beautiful, but it makes for easy harvesting. Another tip for harvesting: if you’re not too fussy with the variety, go for ones with colorful pods. I like purple and golden-podded ones as opposed to green ones because you can see them a lot easier against the green leaves, making harvesting fast and easy.

My Favorite Beans

I currently have two favorite varieties. The first one is Triomfo Violeta, a slender Italian variety with purple pods that are very sweet. Unfortunately, when cooked, the purple disappears and turns green, but the flavor is still there whether raw or cooked. The other is Gold Marie, a flatter Romano style that is very sweet, crisp, and delicious. 

One thing I forgot to mention about pole beans is that there’s a lot of organic matter up here. At the end of the season, I chop and drop, letting all the leaves and stems lay on top of the soil surface to protect the bed as we enter the winter months.

Potatoes

It’s no surprise that the plant I’m always going to put in the garden is a potato. I’ve grown these in just about every way you could think of. So potatoes always have a place in my heart. Learn more about How to grow tons of potatoes in a lazy way.

As an edible crop to put in the garden, you’re not going to find something more calorically dense and easier to grow. The combination of those two factors makes potatoes a must-plant for me. We’ve tried different potato methods—grow bags, in the ground, in raised beds, etc. Pretty much all of them work. I prefer the method where you bury them deep and ignore them. You’ll get an incredible amount of produce from the garden, and honestly, you’ll probably get surprise potatoes coming up now and then as well. Potatoes, for that reason, will always be in my garden.

Herbs

I have things like pineapple sage, French tarragon, chives, thyme, green onions, cilantro, dill, parsley, sage, basil, and chamomile. I love herbs. We use them every single day. If there’s one thing that you could do in your garden to transform the way you cook and eat, it’s to grow your own herbs. They have way more flavor, and usually, when you buy herbs at the store, it’s really expensive and underwhelming because you have to throw away half of what you bought.

But the beautiful thing about the garden is that as you plant it, you can pick exactly what you want whenever you need it. It’s really wonderful. I highly recommend everyone to start an herb garden.

My Favorite Herbs

I’ve got a whole bunch of herb seeds because I love trying new herbs. If I were to choose a favorite, I would highly recommend you try savory. I personally like summer savory a lot because, in Bulgaria, it’s the primary seasoning herb of choice. There’s also winter savory, which is a lot heartier. In our zone, it’s actually perennial year-round, giving us fresh herbs year-round. Herbs don’t sleep in the herb garden. If you haven’t, definitely try out summer savory.

Cherry Tomatoes

As much as I love to grow beefsteak tomatoes, where I live, the growing season is sometimes cut short by cold springs or early fall conditions. So cherry and currant-size tomatoes are my best bet.

My Favorite Varieties

There are two cherry varieties that are kind of my favorites, and they’re quite similar: Black Cherry and Chocolate Cherry. Both of them have dark brownish-red skin and flavor-wise, they’re sweet, smoky, and syrupy. They’re very delicious. What I love about the plants themselves is that the fruit is borne on these large trusses. At the end of the season, when I need to collect the unripe fruit off the plant, I can snip the entire truss off and take it inside. It’s a lot easier to manage than having individual fruit that you’re trying to ripen indoors. 

I also like growing currant or wild tomatoes. Yes, the plants do get kind of big and sprawl, but the fruit is quite unique and flavorful. I’ve grown Cheesemanii, which is a lovely yellow one.

So there you have it, nine different crops. And a little quick bonus for you: calendula. This can be used in the garden