What should I grow in my vegtable garden first this year?
No one can make that call but you. The purpose of having a home veggie garden is to feed you and your family, AND to cut costs. We are huge tomato, cucumber, green onion and herb people, so this is exactly what I plant for my family. ...I also have several fruit trees in large pots, including 3 varieties of blueberry bushes. ...and anyone who knows me knows I'm cheap, so I like to find a space to grow our pumpkins instead of paying someone else top dollar just to cut into it at Halloween...so that saves money too. ...I also have a Leland Cypress in a large pot and we bring it in every year at Christmastime and decorate it...another cost saver, plus I love the fact that I'm not killing another tree. ...so all in all, what is best for you?? ...also, take into consideration that some veggies are cool season crops (like lettuce/spinach/cilantro), the lettuce will taste bitter and the cilantro will bolt to seed during the hotter months. ...and since this is your first year, don't get too crazy...just purchase a bag of garden soil or organic garden soil from the nursery, till it in with the existing ground dirt about 6 to 8 deep, then start planting...BUT, make sure you space the veggies far enough apart...if the label says to space 18 apart, then do so, because once they're in the ground, they will start to take off, and if you plant to closely you might be sorry later in the season. ...Also, when you first plant the veggies, water once a day for the first week to establish the roots, then after water every few days slowly and deeply...it's better to water deeply and less frequently to force the roots to grow further into the earth as opposed to just spraying a short amount of water daily.
If you would like an early crop- try some onions, plant some strawberries( they take 2 years to bear fruit, though), and some carrots. Cucumbers are fine if you have room , as are beans and even 4 rows of corn or more. be sure to keep the corn rows north of the other vegetables, as they grow tall and impede sunlight. Tomatoes of course are easy and drought-tolerant and fungal-resistant varieties do very well. Remember to weed properly, and water them later in the day to avoid fungi.
Any and every seed you can get a hold of for you do not know what grows best in your dirt.
Just experiment with a variety of veggies (preferably one that you like to eat). Tomatos,summer squash, peppers, carrots, radishes are all easy crops. Check out mywebsite for more ideas and tips: backyardfarm101.blogspot.ca/
