Best vegetables to plant in spring
Not all vegetables are created equal when it comes to the effort-to-reward ratio. Some crops practically grow themselves. Others demand constant attention and still manage to disappoint. After years of growing way too many things, I've gotten opinionated about which spring vegetables are actually worth the garden space.
This list is ordered roughly by when you'd plant them in spring, starting with the cold-tolerant crops that go in early and ending with the warm-season ones.
Peas
Peas go in the ground as soon as you can work the soil, typically 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost. They germinate in soil as cold as 40°F. Soak the seeds overnight and they'll sprout in about a week.
Sugar snap peas are the best variety for most gardeners. You eat the whole pod, so there's no shelling involved. They produce heavily for about 3 weeks, then slow down as the weather heats up. Give them something to climb (a trellis, fence, or even some sticks pushed into the ground) and they'll reach 4 to 6 feet tall.
One thing to know: peas stop producing when temperatures regularly hit the 80s. They're a spring crop, period. Plant them early or don't bother.
Lettuce and salad greens
Lettuce is one of the best crops for beginners because it's fast, forgiving, and you can harvest it repeatedly. Plant it 4 to 6 weeks before your last frost. It handles light frosts without damage.
Loose-leaf varieties (like Black Seeded Simpson or Red Sails) are better than head lettuce for home gardens. You can start picking outer leaves in 30 days, and the plant keeps producing for weeks. Plant a new row every two weeks through spring for continuous salad greens. Once summer heat arrives, lettuce bolts (sends up a flower stalk and turns bitter), so enjoy it while you can.
Arugula deserves a mention here too. It grows even faster than lettuce, about 20 to 25 days for baby leaves. It's spicier, which not everyone likes, but it's nearly impossible to kill.
Radishes
If you need an early win in the garden, grow radishes. They're ready to eat in 25 to 30 days. Twenty-five days. You can plant them in early spring, pull them before it gets warm, and use that same space for a summer crop. Kids love them because the results are so fast.
Cherry Belle is the classic round red radish. French Breakfast is oblong with a milder flavor. Watermelon radish is gorgeous (green outside, pink inside) but takes longer, about 60 days.
Spinach and kale
Both are cold-hardy greens that go in early, 4 to 6 weeks before last frost. Spinach is the more delicate of the two, both in flavor and temperature tolerance. It bolts quickly in warm weather, so treat it like a spring-only crop.
Kale is the opposite. Plant it in spring and it'll still be producing in December. Seriously. Lacinato (dinosaur) kale and Red Russian kale are the best-tasting varieties. Curly kale is fine for smoothies but not great eaten raw. All varieties taste sweeter after a frost, which is a nice perk for fall and winter harvesting.
Tomatoes
I almost didn't include tomatoes because they're so obvious. But they're on this list because they're the crop most people want to grow, and for good reason. A single healthy tomato plant can produce 10 to 15 pounds of fruit over the season. That's real food.
Transplant tomatoes outside about 2 weeks after your last frost, once soil temperatures are above 60°F. (Check our planting calendar for your specific dates.) Cherry tomatoes are the most reliable producers. Sungold, Juliet, and Sweet 100 produce ridiculous amounts of fruit with minimal effort.
For slicing tomatoes, Celebrity and Better Boy are consistent performers. If you want heirlooms, Cherokee Purple and Brandywine taste incredible but produce less and crack more easily.
Find the right planting dates for all of these crops: enter your ZIP code for a personalized schedule.
Beans
Green beans are the most underrated garden crop. Bush beans take 50 to 55 days from seed to harvest, need no support structure, and produce heavily. A 10-foot row gives you more beans than a family of four can eat for about three weeks.
Plant them after your last frost when soil is above 60°F. Direct sow, 2 inches apart. They don't transplant well. For a longer harvest, plant a new batch every 2 to 3 weeks through early summer.
Pole beans take longer (60 to 70 days) but produce over a longer period. They need a trellis. If you've got the vertical space, they're worth it.
Zucchini and summer squash
I hesitated to include zucchini because the running joke is that gardeners can't give the stuff away by August. But that incredible productivity is exactly why it belongs on this list. Two zucchini plants are enough for most families. Three is too many. I'm not kidding.
Plant after last frost, in warm soil. Direct sow or transplant. Harvest when fruits are 6 to 8 inches long. If you go on vacation and come back to a 2-foot zucchini, it's still edible but the texture gets spongy. Check plants every day or two during peak production.
Cucumbers
Similar timing to zucchini: plant after last frost in warm soil. Bush varieties work well in containers and small gardens. Vining varieties produce more but need space or a trellis.
Marketmore 76 is a reliable slicing cucumber. For pickling, go with National Pickling or Calypso. Pick cucumbers frequently. If you let a fruit get large and yellow on the vine, the plant slows down production.
Peppers
Peppers are slower than tomatoes, needing warm soil and warm nights to really take off. Transplant them 2 to 3 weeks after your last frost, once nights are consistently above 55°F. They produce from midsummer through fall.
Sweet peppers (bell types) take 70 to 80 days from transplant to colored fruit. If you want faster results, pick them green. Hot peppers vary wildly: jalapenos are ready in 65 days, habaneros need 90+. In short-season zones, pick varieties with lower days-to-maturity numbers.
Honorable mentions
Herbs. Basil, cilantro, dill, and parsley all go in during spring. Basil waits until after frost; cilantro prefers the cool weather and bolts when it gets hot. All of them produce more flavor per square foot than just about anything else you can grow.
Beets and carrots. Both are direct-sown root crops that go in 4 to 6 weeks before last frost. They're easy to grow but slow (60 to 80 days). Worth it if you have patience and loose soil.
Getting started
If you're new to vegetable gardening, don't try to grow everything on this list in year one. Pick three or four crops. Lettuce, tomatoes, and beans would be a solid first-year trio. Add more next year once you've got the rhythm down.
Whatever you choose, the planting calendar can tell you exactly when to plant based on your location. It takes the guesswork out of timing, which is half the battle.