My Top 5 Edible Garden Plants for the Newbie Gardener

I started really dedicating time towards my garden at the beginning of 2022. My research into gardening consumed a better part of my evenings and I enjoyed reading about it so much that when spring hit, I gathered my family in the car and hightailed it to Lowes.

We live in Sacramento which is in the USDA Hardiness Zone 9. My all-sun garden included a combination of potted and in ground vegetables, herbs, and fruits. I purchased most as transplants, but we did plant our watermelon and pumpkins from seed.

As a newbie gardener these were my favorite plants to grow and care for:

#1 Cherry Tomatoes

By far my most abundant yield came from my cherry tomatoes. These were so easy to care for! They were located in full sun (6+ hours) and were watered about every other day (except during our heat wave when they were watered every day). I purchased my cherry tomato transplant from Lowes. They were juicy and so sweet! These are a garden staple for us now.

#2 Zucchini

When they say zucchini is one of the easiest plants to grow, they aren’t kidding! My two tiny transplants grew monstrous and yielded over 2 dozen zucchini combined. I was handing these out like Oprah. My plants were located in full sun and watered every day. I did not trim or prune my zucchini plants but will definitely do that growing forward because towards the end of the season their size was unmanageable (they took up an area of about 8’x5′) and many zucchinis got lost in the growth.

#3 Sugar Baby Watermelon

My Sugar Baby vines grew over 10 feet long and really transformed my little garden into a magical corner of life. Although the yield was not great (We only got to enjoy 3 melons), these were fun to start from seed and watch grow. To increase yield next season, I will trim vines.

#4 Dwarf Lemon Tree

Anyone that knows me knows I LOVE lemons. Lemon bars, bread, cupcakes, and cake! YES PLEASE. When I got the opportunity to grow my own tree, I jumped on it. Planted in a pot as a transplant, my little tree provided me with a dozen lemons this year. SUCCES! It was also very low maintenance. Located in direct sun and watered every other day throughout the summer.

#5 Rosemary

Last but certainly not least, my darling Rosemary. My favorite herb to grow because it never gave me any problems. Watered a couple times a week, this little guy grew and made my garden smell LOVELY. I hung small bushels in a closet to dry out for later use as well. Sadly, right before fall came one of our dogs thought it smelled a little TOO good… so we will be starting over with Rosemary next spring.

There you have it – my top 5 fave plants for a newbie gardener! For the record… We also grew pumpkins, basil, thyme, cilantro, strawberries, bell peppers, jalapeño’s, Better Boy tomatoes, Golden Pear tomatoes, cucumbers, and sage. See My 5 Least Favorite Edible Plants for Newbies for those that I found most difficult to grow. I can tell you we won’t be investing in bell peppers again…