With seed starting season right around the corner for our zone 5a garden in Vermont, it’s about time I put together a 2024 complete kitchen garden grow list.
I was chatting with a friend the other day about the upcoming garden season and she asked what I’m growing this year. The appropriate response…how much time do you have?!
Planting a kitchen garden each summer is one of my favorite hobbies and this year I’m more excited than ever to start seeds inside, set up some early spring row covers, and start harvesting fresh vegetables. Perhaps it’s because we’re finally building that greenhouse.
In January, I sorted through my seeds, made a big ol’ planting list, and put in all my seed orders. And today, the last of the seeds finally arrived! So today, I’m sharing our kitchen garden planting list with you. Including ride-or-die varieties, the new things I’m trying, and plants the kids are asking for. Here we go.
* New to me variety for 2024
Beans (Dry)
We eat dry beans fairly regularly during the winter. Like cannellini beans in chili, black beans with our tacos, and pinto beans for refried beans.
This year I’m trying out two new-to-me varieties, black-eyed butterbeans and garbanzo beans.
Growing black-eyed butterbeans may be a stretch as they are more prolific in southern climates. But I’m itching to grow them for a couple of black-eyed peas recipes.
Garbanzo beans aren’t entirely new to me. I’ve grown them before but had terrible germination, only successfully growing two garbanzo bean pods on one plant. But I credit that to seed starting error and want to try soaking the beans before starting them this year.
- Black Eyed Butterbeans*
- Cannellini Beans
- Cherokee Trail of Tears Black Beans
- Garbanzo Beans*
- Light Red Kidney Beans
- Quincy Pinto Beans
Beans (Snap)
Snap beans are prolific and we harvest so many from just two 4′ x 8′ garden beds. Enough to feed us all summer along with freezing. My favorite snap beans to freeze are the strike bush beans but the maxibel haricot vert beans freeze well too.
Beets
Beets are such a springtime staple in our home, as long as I keep the chickens away from them as tiny seedlings! Sliced, roasted beets with turnips, shallots, and garlic is one of my favorite dishes.
We also really love pickled red beets in this house and grow extra dark red beets just for pickling.
Brussels Sprouts
Oh brussels sprouts! I always try to start my brussels sprouts early to extend their growing season and find I’m picking some in late summer/early fall to make shaved brussels sprouts salad.
The bulk of the harvest gets picked later on and we freeze a few bags of brussels sprouts to eat all winter long. My tried and true variety that always shows up for me:
Broccoli
I’ve been hit or miss with growing broccoli over the years and find as long as I time it correctly, I get a great spring harvest along with a second planting in the fall.
I’ve tried five or six varieties over the years and the Covina F1 has become my favorite. It resists bolting longer than others and also performs well going into the colder temperatures in the fall.
Cabbage
Cabbage is another vegetable that’s pretty hit or miss for me. I find I’m either battling cabbageworms or the chickens. This year, I want to try growing under some insect netting to see if that helps.
Of the varieties below, the premium flat Dutch late cabbage is my favorite for a full cabbage head (like 10-12 lbs) that’s great for cabbage rolls. The caraflex cabbage is a unique cabbage shape and grows quickly for summer slaw.
Golden acre (green) and primero (red) are smaller varieties (4-5 lbs) that grow quickly. I can usually succession plant these and get one spring and one fall harvest in.
Carrots
I’ve tried many carrot varieties over the years and my favorites are below. Danvers takes longer to mature at around 70 days for full size and is a great storage carrot. It also freezes well.
The napoli carrots are excellent for fresh eating through the summer and the fall. I often sow all my carrot seed varieties at the same time in the spring and these are the first I harvest at 45 days for baby carrots and 55 days for full size.
Starburst carrots are a fun variety for the kids with a mix of white, orange, yellow, and purple varieties. There’s just something about a purple carrot that gets the girls more excited to eat the vegetable.
Cauliflower
I have had precisely zero success growing cauliflower. One year, I did get a head the size of a tennis ball but then a chicken took care of that. Typically, I grow cauliflower in the spring but they’ve bolted quickly before they get big enough to harvest. This year, I’m trying a variety that resists bolting longer.
Celeriac
Celeriac is one of those vegetables that used to intimidate me but since I started growing it, has become a favorite. Roasted celeriac with garlic and herbs is an easy and delicious vegetable side.
I’ve grown this variety for a few years and it’s always grown well, except for last summer when it rained nonstop and most of my root vegetables rotted.
Celery
Like cauliflower, I’ve tried a few different varieties of celery and they bolt quickly. I’ve found the Utah tall celery variety grows the best for me and this year I’m planting it in a few different locations in my garden to see if there’s a certain amount of sun/shade that works best for it.
Corn
I would still consider growing corn as a new thing I’m trying to figure out. Although it’s been hard to justify it since we live across the road from an organic farm specializing in sweet corn. But I would still like to learn.
I tried growing it two years ago but had most of it destroyed by what I think were groundhogs or moles. I’m trying again this year growing a basic sweet corn and also a variety for making corn meal, which we cook with often.
Cucumbers
Oh, cucumbers. This family has a cucumber problem which materializes in the form of a pickle problem. While I do grow a couple of varieties of slicers, like the miniature green finger cucumber and the larger marketmore cucumber, the majority I grow is for pickling.
The amount of pickles my kids and husband can consume in the summer is astounding. I picked up a couple more cucumber trellises this year with plans on doubling my pickling cucumber production.
Other favorites for fresh eating for the kids are the silver slicers and the cucamelon. Cucamelons are adorable and look like a miniature watermelon. It’s not uncommon to find a child parked by the cucamelon trellis snacking away on them.
- Boston Pickling Cucumber
- Green Finger Cucumber
- Marketmore 76 Cucumber
- Mexican Sour Gherkin (Cucamelon)
- Silver Slicer Cucumber
Eggplant
Fresh from the garden eggplant is chef’s kiss. There’s such a difference between the eggplants at the grocery store and homegrown. And I will never not grow the classic black beauty variety. It makes for delicious baba ganoush. Rosa bianca is another, smaller variety that I love for roasting or frying slices.
Fennel
I grew fennel for the first time last year and I’m hooked. Fun fact. I had never tried fennel and just decided to grow a few plants because I thought they were beautiful. Fast forward a growing season and I learned the deliciousness of roasted fennel.
I grew the finale variety last year, which is pretty thin, and am trying florence this year for a thicker bulb. One thing is for certain, I will be growing more than just five plants.
Greens
Nothing screams spring gardening to me more than growing greens. I’ve tried so many varieties and I’m starting to learn my tried and true. Like how coastal star romaine lettuce resists bolting the longest, salanova is the tastiest, and the rainbow swiss chard is so prolific with a long growing season.
- Coastal Star Lettuce
- Butterflay Spinach
- Esmee Arugula
- Georgian Southern Collards
- Giant Winter Spinach
- Gourmet Blend Lettuce
- Meadowlark Kale
- Mesclun Mix
- Rainbow Blend Swiss Chard
- Red Giant Mustard Greens
- Salanova Green Butter Lettuce
- Salanova Red Butter Lettuce
Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi is a fun plant to grow and I rely on it in recipes that normally call for cabbage since they’re so similar but are harvested smaller and earlier. I love growing both a green and purple variety of kohlrabi and slicing it into sticks (like fries) for roasting.
Melons/Watermelons
Melons and watermelons are hit or miss every year. I typically grow the same varieties together in one bed and certain varieties do well some years and not so great other years. I think it’s dependent on how much sun and water they get.
Hands down my favorite watermelon to grow is the baby doll watermelon. It has a yellow interior with a sweeter flavor like no other. The tendersweet orange watermelon is supposed to be pretty similar and one I’m trying this year.
- Baby Doll F1 Watermelon
- Green Flesh Honeydew
- Delice De La Table Melon
- Kajari Melon
- Sugar Baby Watermelon
- Tendersweet Orange Watermelon*
Onions/Shallots/Leeks
I feel like I’ve been growing the same onion varieties every single year and this year, I’m majorly shaking that up in our 2024 kitchen garden grow list. To value engineer my seed ordering this season, I ordered more from MI Gardener where seed packets are only $2 and you often get more seeds per packet.
- Large American Flag Leeks
- New York Early Onion*
- Red Wethersfield Onion*
- Tokyo Long White Bunching Onions
- White Sweet Spanish Onions
- Zebrune Shallot*
Parsnip
I live for that first parsnip puree of the fall. When the parsnip is ready it’s like the signal that it’s time for more roasted vegetables, heartier dinners, soups, and stews.
Peas
My love affair with peas goes way back. Shelling peas in particular. It’s one of the first vegetables I ever tried growing and every year I grow more and more.
The Laxton’s progress #9 shelling pea is my favorite and I can never grow enough. There’s something so relaxing about sitting in the garden, shelling peas, and eating them fresh with new potatoes in butter and cream. Mmmm.
If you want to feel good about yourself as a gardener, grow some peas. They grow well even in poor-quality soil. I can always count on my peas.
Peppers
Peppers are right up there with tomatoes as the coveted, and most babied, plants in the garden. I always start too many pepper seeds in the spring and need to find homes for all the pepper babies.
Sweet Peppers
I keep the sweet pepper varieties pretty simple, growing the old standby California wonder bell pepper. It grows well and LARGE. Bangles snack peppers are also a fun treat for the kids in the garden. They’re small and snackable, another variety specifically for the kids and fresh eating.
Hot Peppers
I’m hesitant to call all of these hot peppers, as many of them aren’t that hot, but here it goes. I could go on and on about each of these varieties, as many of them are tried and true, but here are some highlights.
The sugar rush peach pepper is a sweet yet hot pepper that is superb in salsa. Like so so good! I look forward to fresh salsa with this pepper every summer.
The other day I had a poke bowl at a local restaurant that had roasted biquinho red peppers on top. I was immediately hooked and sourced the pepper seeds that night. I might try growing these now in pots so I can recreate the meal sooner.
Blistered shishito peppers with garlic aioli are a summer staple. So simple, so delicious. I can never grow enough shishitos.
Another new to me variety is the rooster spur pepper. Ever since traveling to Chicago, I’ve been trying to figure out which pepper variety the Chicago sport peppers are. I think this variety will work picked small and pickled for Chicago-style hot dogs. (Note…Chicagoans feel free to chime in if you know how to do this.)
- Anaheim Chilli Pepper
- Ancho Poblano Pepper
- Banana Pepper
- Biquinho Red Pepper*
- Capperino Red Cherry Pepper*
- Early Jalapeno Pepper
- Pimento Pepper
- Rooster Spur Pepper*
- Serrano Pepper
- Shishito Pepper
- Sugar Rush Peach Pepper
Pumpkins
While I mostly grow ornamental pumpkins to adorn our porch, I do grow one variety of pie pumpkins. It’s the winter luxury pumpkin. The flavor of this pie pumpkin is top notch and it’s less stringy than others. I tend to roast, puree, and freeze this pumpkin to use in recipes, like pumpkin pie and pumpkin muffins, all winter long.
- Galeux D’Eysines Pumpkin
- Jack Be Little Pumpkin
- Jarrahdale Pumpkin
- Marina Di Chioggia Pumpkin
- Porcelain Doll Pumpkin
- Valenciano Pumpkin
- Winter Luxury Pumpkin
Radishes
I’m not a big radish lover, which is surprising since I do like my food spicy, but I have found a couple of varieties I do like.
Cherry belle is a traditional radish shape and is less spicy than most varieties. French breakfast radishes are also less spicy and are larger and longer in shape. Both of these radishes are great for fresh snacking or pickling.
Squash (Summer/Zucchini)
Let’s talk about the summer garden staples, summer squash and zucchini. I’m excited to try the green machine F1 variety this year as it has a more upright growth habit. I plant most of my garden pretty tightly so this variety will be nice to help maximize space.
Squash (Winter)
Winter squash is a solid, long-season crop to grow. The yields from these plants in the fall are unbelievable. Just one baby blue hubbard squash feeds our family daily for a week or more. And talk about delicious!
Of the winter squash varieties, my top three ride-or-dies (mostly for taste) would be the baby blue hubbard, honey boat delicata, and waltham butternut. So good, so prolific.
Last summer, I didn’t grow winter squash but had some volunteers in the compost. I could not believe how giant the blue hubbards grew in the compost. Volunteer plants for the win!
- Baby Blue Hubbard Squash
- Burgess Buttercup Squash
- Delicata Squash
- Honey Boat Delicata Squash
- Spaghetti Squash
- Sweet Dumpling Squash
- Sweet Meat Squash
- Sweet Reba Acorn Squash
- Waltham Butternut Squash
Tomatoes
The other plant babies of the garden, tomatoes! There is no comparison in the taste between a generic beefsteak tomato from the grocery store and a homegrown Paul Robeson. This is why tomato sandwiches in the summer are a thing!
Paste/Plum Tomatoes
The best paste tomato, in my not-so-humble opinion, is the San Marzano. It’s delicious, prolific, and meaty meaning more sauce per tomato.
I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect salsa tomato. I think I’ve tried about a dozen varieties so far but none has been “the one.” Here’s hoping this year’s trial of the Rio Grande is the one.
- San Marzano Tomato (Sauce)
- Rio Grande Tomato (Salsa)*
Cherry/Pear Tomatoes
I grow far too many cherry and pear tomatoes but it’s so hard to narrow them down since they’re all so good. Plus the kids each have their favorites. My all-time favorite variety is the Sun Gold F1. So delicious.
- Barry’s Crazy Cherry Tomato
- Matt’s Wild Cherry Tomato
- Orange Hat Micro Tomato
- Sun Gold F1 Cherry Tomato
- Supernova Grape Tomato
- Yellow Pear Tomato
Large Beefsteak Tomatoes
These are the prize tomatoes, folks. The homegrown large beefsteak tomatoes. Mark my words, I will never not grow these three varieties and will fight the chickens for who gets the first one off the vine. Please let it be a Dr. Wyche, please!
Specialty Tomatoes
Can we talk for a moment about ground cherries?! I feel like I have a ground cherries soapbox and it’s the plant I talk about the most. Have you grown them?!
Ground cherries are these little tiny husk tomatoes that are SO PROLIFIC and so sweet, tasting kind of like a pineapple. They grow low to the ground and are the perfect snacking plant for the kids. The ground cherries very rarely make it inside the house.
Turnips/Rutabagas
Turnips and rutabagas are another great basic root vegetable for the garden. They are delicious roasted with garlic and herbs, mixed with onions and beets.
While the Joan rutabaga is a classic, my personal two faves are the golden ball and the navone yellow when it comes to flavor.
What Are You Growing?
While that concludes my 2024 kitchen garden grow list, I’m sure it will change. I do always grow some herbs but often I get varieties like oregano and thyme from the garden center.
And like every season, what I end up growing might not be the same as this list. There are always seeds that don’t germinate or tiny seedlings forgotten during hardening which don’t recover from the frost.
Pssst…So tell me, fellow kitchen gardeners, what varieties are you growing this year? What’s your 2024 kitchen garden grow list look like? Any tried and true favorites? Or new things you’re trying?
Dear Angie, between this post and the one on your decluttering challenge, I’m not sure which one was more inspiring! I don’t think I’ll ever be as ambitious in the garden as you. I’m growing a salad garden which is pathetic compared to yours plus I get my seeds at the dollar store! This will only be my 2nd summer in even having a garden so I’m still learning. We moved last year from PA to SC and we finally have some space to have a garden. I only have six 3×4 raised beds which is about all I think I can handle! You sure do grow a lot of fancy things – rutabegas and kohlrabi? Impressive! The only super-prolific things I grew last year were cucumbers, green peppers (they didn’t turn colors like on the packet!) and jalapenos. Like, crazy amounts of jalapeno peppers.
My husband had to take some to work to give away because we had too many. Maybe I will try some new stuff next year, like corn and pumpkins but first we have to prepare some space. I hope to hear about your harvest later this year. Post lots of pictures!
Awww, you’re always so sweet! And no calling your garden pathetic! A salad garden is amazing and where you get your seeds doesn’t matter! What does matter is taking the time to grow food, enjoying the process along the way, and feeding your family. Definitely try some new things like pumpkins. They’re so easy as long as you stay on top of the bugs. And I’ll definitely do a harvest post. Keep me posted too on what you’re growing!