PEPPERS are absolutely on my top 10.

Sugar snap peas are one of my absolute favorite garden veggies. We like to pick them and eat them as we're walking around or working in the garden. And....my grandkids LOVE them. I always send them home with a bag full. We like sitting outside on the patio, at the end of a nice summers day and munch on a bowl of them. Barely any ever make it into the house. They would always be one of my top veggies to grow, and my first ones I plant here in Rhode Island in the spring. The plants themselves are pretty with their curling tendrils reaching up to climb, and they take up little space and need little care. Another reason I like them is the candy sweet flavor of home grown. The ones in the markets will never match their taste.

"Winter squashes are just one of these things that can't be beet." :D

Nasturtiums. They're beautiful, attract pollinators, and you can eat the flower, the leaves, AND the seeds (when pickled). If you're in a mild climate, they'll grow all summer if given sufficient water and cut back a few times, and they will reseed themselves like crazy. I'm a recent convert, and I love nasturtiums (the seeds taste like capers and are great in salads and rice when pickled!)

Peppers. We came from Colorado, and love Mexican and southwestern food. When we moved to Wisconsin to be near our grandchildren, I was pretty sure they wouldn't grow in this climate, but I decided to try anyway. They actually do quite well. We grow bells and various kinds of chillis, such as anahiems, poblanos and jalapenos, in pots on our deck. The harvests aren't huge, but we get enough for one or two batches of chille sauce. Pretty easy to grow, too.

Sounds so simple but we are all guilty of this. I'm a first year gardener and I'm growing all kinds of crazy thing lol.

I like kale, but it requires a lot of chewing so I tend of avoid it, unless I cut it into very small pieces. BUT, I found that in soups or stews kale is amazing. I cooked some beef stew and into it I added so much kale I could hardly believe it, and it made the stew taste better and was thicker and I am sure it added a ton of nutrition to that stew. That is my favorite thing for kale. Saw it on a PBS cooking show and would have never thought if it.

A little late in responding, but... Welsh onions or topset onions. Both of these are perennial green onions. If you harvest the tops rather than the entire plant, they'll keep coming back and gradually multiply. In zone six or higher, they'll be available pretty much year round--just walk out to the garden and get some onions--though they may need some protection on the coldest nights in winter. They add flavor to just about everything, much like garlic, but they're essentially always available.

Important Note: The Irish Potato Famine was a complex issue beyond just planting mainly potatoes. The majority Catholic Irish had been slowly conquered via a combination of laws and punitive actions by Great Britain and were were treated as second-class citizens. Their rights to their lands had been forcibly taken over the centuries and they were left to become renters on those same lands in the hands of the British-favored Anglicans known as the Ascendancy, which lands were not good for most kinds of farming or the crops were left at the whim of the landlords or their largely independent middlemen. This was the first big issue. Potatoes were an exception to that farming problem. They are cheap and prolific, an excellent staple crop. But mainly one cultivar of potato was used in Ireland; there are literally thousands of kinds that were specially bred by South-American native cultures for all manner of climates and altitudes (Cogito has a good overview video here on YT). Having monocultures (aka single-species crops) leaves your whole crop vulnerable to diseases and pests that reduce or destroy yield. And that is just what happened- a fungal epidemic swept through Ireland (along with much of Europe) and wiped out the potato plants. This was the second major issue. The final and perhaps most ghastly issue is both the simplest and yet also the most complex- prejudice, namely the prejudice of the lord in charge over Ireland. He, and many other British lords, subscribed to the theories of Malthus- in short the attitudes and theories espoused by Thanos in the Avengers movies. To their views the death of the commoners to starvation was a part of a natural cycle of overpopulation (which was half-true in large parts of the world until the Enlightenment era and Industrial Revolution gave us the scientific method and tools to increase and even bypass the carrying capacity of the lands we depended on for agriculture). Such beliefs were pervasive even to the point that the government over Ireland turned away ships bearing relief supplies of food and medicine. It was not just a potato famine, but top-down agricultural mismanagement, elitist prejudice, and a genocide-by-famine. Monocultures still persist today in vast industrial farms as crops are favored which produce in volume rather than are resistant to harsh weather or blight. The Malthus’ error-ridden theories still rear their cruel heads in discussions of supposed overpopulation (which really should focus on resource management and distribution rather than the false specter of overpopulation; we are far from worldwide overpopulation and starvation is in fact an issue of inequality and privilege). This is also why home gardening and crop diversity are so important. These are not just cost-cutting and satisfying knowledge and skills and resources. These are backup skills for survival in case local food supplies or financial or logistical networks fail. This is our lifeblood and heritage as humans. Learn it and thrive.

I would put onions on the list, much like garlic very easy to grow and it improves flavor of many things when combined.

Turnips and beet will always be on my list, first because they grow well here, but I get the advantage of harvesting the TOPS as well as the root. Double duty crops...

I dehydrate a lot of my foods, Freeze, and can. I was extremely crunched for time last year and tomatoes were almost over the edge. I threw them in a freezer bag and tossed them in the freezer. they were great in soups stews and chili. No waste here!! Dehydrated peppers, Kale, Fruit, Raspberries and strawberries, currents, blueberry's, I never let anything go to waste. and now I share with all my neighbors. Times are hard, I am glad I can help with my gardens bounty.

Great video. One thing I have to consider seriously is storage. I know myself. It will not get pickled, canned, or made into jam at my house. :) For me, it needs to freeze well or dehydrate well. By the way, Roma tomatoes freeze really well. I just wash and dry them, lay on a cookie sheet and freeze, then put in a ziplock bag. When I'm ready to make sauce, just run under hot water for a minute and the skin peels right off. I don't think this would work well with slicer tomatoes, but I've never tried.

If Jeff Bridges and Paul Rudd had a kid.......GREAT website! My raised-bed sweet potatoes ROCKED this Summer!

He's telling us to grow carrots and beans, which he said not to grow in the last video, still, I'm learning A LOT. Like choose OPEN POLLINATORS.

Sunflowers! Great for snacks, attracting pollinators, and they are just beautiful! I also want to try asparagus and artichokes. Those are two of my favorites and can be expensive to buy.

Personally, I like to grow broccoli. I love broccoli and eat it with everything. It was also suprisingly easy to grow, saved a ton of money from the grocery store, you can get multiple harvests if you are lucky, and you can eat every part of the plant including the stalk and leaves. I think storage is going to be my main deciding factor for the upcoming season. I have let too much good food go to waste from not eating it fast enough.

I think it only works well in warmer climates but okra can throw some pods like crazy. And peppers aren't a major filling food crop but a few plants can add lots of flavor and medicinal quality to your food.

Gardener Scott: The Dude of gardening

I have gotten overwhelmed by starting too big in the past. I am not physically able to do much at the moment, so I am planning to grow mostly herbs and some perennial veggies next year. I am focusing on improving the soil this fall - compost, cover crop, etc. I have some strawberries and ordered two fruit bushes. Hopefully I will be able to start doing a bit more in later years

love this!!!!!

I like to grow a pumpkin plant for jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin soup in October because it is just so much fun. Looking for the first pumpkin and watching it swell beyond belief is the good life!

I've just discovered your channel. I'm so happy to find a great channel in my zone. I'm not a new gardener, but there is always much to learn.

You have voice and you talk the way i could listen to you talking about anything for hours

Great video! Thanks for your advices

I like your style. You speak the truth and have the know-how to back it up. Thank you!

I usually can't get up early enough for your weekly live but I love watching your videos

Another great content as always! Thank you.

Bell peppers, sweet banana peppers, herbs of all kinds and summer squash, crook neck and straight neck yellows are our favorite.

Thank you. Very good suggestions and lists.

Love your videos Gardener Scott! You are really down to earth! Pun intended!

Thank You💛

Oh my gosh...listening to this I realized that every year I make room to grow eggplant, even though everyone in my family hates it, including me! I also grow a giant trellis of Armenian cucumbers, but could easily do with one plant and make more room for pickling cucumbers. Silly me, but thanks for a thought-provoking episode.

thank you

Hello! I love Your channel! Thanks for your work!! :) Sunchokes, josta, fig, juneberry are my favourites, worth mentioning. Easy to grow, fast, productive. Cheers from Hungary!

Thank you, Scott. That video was very informative. I love the must grow plants you identified. I would add to the list are peppers and sweet peas. I love both.

I do mostly low carb diet so wanted to grow herbs and hot peppers in my garden.

I love this , no lies were told I am preparing for my 3rd year of growing and this video gave me the idea to construct a couple beds like an herb bed, one for my strawberries and other berries I have and perhaps one for my root crops. Every year of garden has been better than the previous year so I’m hoping to continue that pattern this year

Tomatillos. I think of them as my doomsday prepper crop -- super-easy to grow, prolific, versatile (incredible for salsas, marinades, etc), and seem utterly impervious to pests, even when the foliage is under attack, the fruits remain totally viable, as though the beautiful paper lantern that contains them acts as a force field against pests. We roast them along with some habaneros and garlic, throw it all in the food processor, and you've got the base for the best salsa verde you've ever had, as well as a great base for many different marinades.

Gardener Scott, I just found your channel and absolutely love it. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!

I LOVE YU, gardner scott. than k u for all your tips. God bless u

10. Berries 9. Beets 8. Cucumbers 7. Garlic 6. Potatoes 5. Winter Squash 4. Beans 3. Kale 2. Zucchini 1. Tomatoes

Hearing you talk about veggies that produce and produce has my mouth watering for springtime gardening!

man, i’d love that flat land you’re on!! 🤗 thank you for the great advice. according to my family, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and basil are all i need to plant. 😊 i do butternut squash for me!!

Excellent advice

Thank you for all the tips Scott , I always can almost everything I grow and my garden is always wonderful it gives me so much veggies enough for eating and sharing, I follow you and try to see all your videos I learn so much from them, thank you and stay healthy 🙏🏼👍🏼💕

Best gardening channel on youtube. Well done Scott and thanks!

I agree 100% with your list. Thank you. I also can tomatoes every year except the one that was a disaster. Lol

Loved your list. I'm new to gardening and really like your list about liking what you grow. Thanks

Thank you so much for your videos! They are helping me tremendously in my new raised garden endeavor.

Love your videos thankyou. 4 your knowledge I have my cup of coffee note pad again thank you. You're always making me think. And I love the history behind..

Excellently done! I agree across the board. I tend to throw a hot pepper in there too, and bell peppers also.

Love how honest you are to share some failures/ not good choice with all of us. My tribe doesn’t like kale,chard, spinach etc... however, I make my own dog food & use it that way. Loaded with lots of good stuff for my fur babies 😉

Great video! I would add corn to the list.

wow. congratulations on reaching 100,000 subscribers. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experiences with us. i have been gardening for a while and still learn so much from you. thanks.

Excellent analogy of what to put into your garden! I’m now a new subscriber. Thanks!

I grew leaf lettuce last year and it did surprisingly well; tastes great with the peppers, green onions, and carrots I grew too. Going to try a raised bed this year along with my 30x40 regular garden.

A timely video loaded with excellent tips! thank you:)

Lactofermented tomatoes onions and garlic are amazing

Amazing information, densely packed and presented in such an unpretentious manner! Thank you, sir! I like to use a small corner of my garden for fun crops such as Halloween pumpkins or decorative pumpkins for the fall.

Love your informative videos! Yes, tomatoes are my favorite to grow. Maybe I will try and grow kale next year--I like the idea of kale chips!

Such a very timely presentation, because as l was watching the tv just today, and seeing the long long lines of people going to the food banks in America because of the Pandemic, this is so needed in our society today. Just basic survival skills! And much healthier and most importantly cheaper. Requires some hard work but will pay off in the end! Thank you again. Blessings

I was thinking about leeks. It's like my favourite plant to eat and it's on par with kale for price in my country.. And thanks for all your videos. It's like my 1st season out of the pots on the balcony and I need wisdom your channel provides. Thanks!

Thanks!

Thank you😊😊

I'm planning on growing some Chard this season.

Starting a garden with my mom this year! My parents just got a new house with more land. My main plants to grow are hot peppers, but she likes loads of other things. We are glad to come across your channel to learn more about our new hobby!. Thanks again and keep up the great content.

Great video, I'm subscribed.

Yes! Your #1 is definitely my #1and mine even grow well in Arizona with a shade cloth.

Great ideas. I have always grown Snap & snow peas -10/10 Another easy & trouble free crop - Asparagus

We always grow our own tomatoes, last year we had a particularly large crop of various cherry tomatoes. We froze many large bags of them and then roast them with our homegrown garlic to make a wonderful tomato sauce.

I am looking forward to seeing your gardens come alive. I have been watching as you start putting things in place. I am planting tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, yellow squash , zucchini , sweet banana peppers and a bunch of herbs . I have others on my list but they are cool season crops for fall.

Great video!

Great video....just waiting on the weather to cooperate so I can plant more. Tomatoes...green fried, sliced or canned...easy grow. Have a great evening.

Peas!! ❤ I am in zone 5b Colorado too and peas are always so so easy and abundant and I harvest off them all year.

Snow Peas gotta have my snow peas, and Bok Chi, and baby lettuce is so easy to grow. Thanks again Scott great list!! I grow many of the ones you mentioned except beets but I do grow turnips.

This is so much information. I love growing Habenaro Pepper and every year I harvest lots of it. I'm trying to add more vegetable to my garden. I hope I can do better this year. thanks for sharing this information.

Agreed 100%!

Some great tips Scott, thanks! I use "storage" / " Preserving" as one of my main selectors. Either direct storage like winter squash, or dehydrating, canning, freezing, and fermenting. Then any surges in harvest can be saved for the fall or winter

Great video! Thanks. I am shocked that I grow 9 of your 10 recommendations in my little urban garden (no winter squash). I am fascinated by your advice on saving seed. Will watch your video on that next. I let 3 or 4 radishes bolt last year and got a BILLION radish seeds that we've been sharing with a dozen neighbors. Have to do that with beans, tomatoes, etc. this year. We also grow sugar snap peas (kids LOVE them), peppers (high value crop). Trying broccoli and cauliflower this year (toasted with olive oil and season salt, whole family enjoys).

by the by, if you like mangos? but live (almost anywhere ) in the USA? try growing PawPaw trees. you need two at least, and they need shade to get started, but its a truly luscious tropical taste that is actually native to our climate.

Hot peppers are a must in my home.

We usually try at least one new veggie each year. We tried it once many years ago and didn't like Okra that much, but I later had some pickled and loved it. I tried it again this year and it is fantastic! We have chickens now, and the higher nitrogen soil has made all the difference.

Tomatoes, Peppers, Leeks, Celery, Green Beans, Kale, Collards, Swiss Chard, Potatoes, Tomatillos. That’s our go to. We do put in others but we struggle with salad greens.

Broccoli, we eat a lot of it and after you harvest the main head the side shoots just keep coming. And I find them easy to grow.

Great 👍 video and suggestions check to see what other crops grow nearby. Open pollenated with saving seeds...

I think green onions are worth a bit of space. They are easy, fit anywhere and have a long season. It's so handy for a salad, sandwich or stir-fry to grab o couple from outside.

I love growing peppers

Excellent Video! Dehydrating tomatoes with fresh basil, oregano, garlic, and sea salt is a good way to make tomatoes last a long time. We love kale too! Kale salad with olive oil massaged in and then nutritional yeast, finely chopped cashews, lemon juice and salt. So great. Can't wait for my very own organic food to grow in my backyard!

The dude abides🤟🏻😎

We grow and preserve a lot of corn every year.

chili peppers, onions, and sunchokes. I can't get my young kids to eat fresh tomatoes, but I grow some for us adults tho limited by our short and cool season.

Onions, seems to me like you can’t find a good onion in any of the stores and when you do pick one it’s hot, so onions onions onions onions I love onions!!!

Spaghetti Squash worked well for me up north. It. Lasted all winter in a small crate in my dining room that is usually in the 60-66 degree range.

Yes herbs! Cilantro, basil, rosemary, would love those handy. Thyme makes it through the cold winters so that’s another good one💕

I grow green chile and lemon cucumber every year because not only they grow so easily but they taste so good.

Love your videos, they're very helpful just wondering if you would be able to do a video on explaining how to get seeds from the plants?

I love to grow spinach. Great taste, very nutritious, can be stored several ways. God bless

My favorite plant to grow is peas. Kids like growing them in school, give them a teepee shaped trellis and you've got yourself a great hiding place, and the sugar pods are delicious! It's the one plant my boys were able to get excited about. I also love growing pumpkins!

The best investment for my future garden is my freezer. I ended up getting one for cheap and it's huge. In it, I'll be storing a lot of produce from my garden. I'm itching to get started! I also happen to have room in my cupboard for fermentation pots, jamjars, or dried seeds and herbs for tea, cooking, and meds. I'm ready!