tomatoes are fairly easy, squash is also very easy. cukes, peas, beans, it doesnt really matter, just jump in and try it! maybe focus on one thing this year and then expand next year, ive started my first garden that im taking care of by myself this year, and its doing great!

 

Very good advice there! :thumb:

 

Tomatoes are the best bang for the buck if you eat chili's these are easy & productive. you need to grow what you eat. Don't try turnips if you hate them. The only green I have luck with in the heat is swiss chard and it can be used in salads when young and cooks up great when mature.

 

Mold.

Grows like crazy on bread. Lol

oh you meant in the garden. That would be weeds.

 

You beat me to it!

 

I'm about 65 miles SE of Dallas and I have tomatoes, peppers of all kinds, watermelon and on. If starting with seeds sow them on a row and cover with 1/4 to 1/8" of soil. If going with plants I suggest tomatoes too. Warning once you start gardening you get hooked! :thumb: Good luck!

 

Radishes, plant from seed in the spring while it's still cool but no chance of frost. The grow easy and quick. I also do mine for a second planting in late summer to be harvested in the fall. Tomatos are pretty easy too, just make sure they have good soil and drainage.

 

If I only had that much space, I would plant using square foot planting... 1 Sweet 100 cherry tomato, 2 regular size tomatoes, 1 zucchini, 1 squash, 1 jalapeno pepper plant, 6 Bush Master cucumbers on a trellis on one end and Kentucky Wonder Pole beans on a trellis on the other end. ....I'm in Louisiana, so these are summer crops here, since you are in Dallas area...it should be similar.

Winter crops would be 3 broccoli, 2 Brussels sprouts, 4 cabbage, carrots, onions, radishes and mustard greens.

 

most care free are irish potatoes and okra

 

easy?

tomatoes, beans, peas, potatoes, cucumbers, lettuces, carrots.

The above are absolutely point-and-shoot. there is no mental requirement, a bit of weeding and a bit of food but vegetables in general are incredibly easy to grow, and the most commonly grown ones are by far the easiest. you go for rare or unusual, it will start to have special needs.

 

yams/sweet taters

 

Go for some wheat sprouts...

50 pound bags are $11-ish. Will last for many years. Can also be ground into flour.

Southernprepper1 has a great youtube site. I recommend you check it out.


Sierra Dave

 

zuchinni 2 plants will give you excess!!

 

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I'm thinking tomatoes and sweet potatoes. Just starting out with two. I'll post some pics later in the week once I have everything built.

 

Just make sure the sweet potatoes have plenty of room, they tend to spread

 

I've never had any joy with sweet potatoes, tons of tiny baby ones but nothing to actually eat. Heh. I think i gave it all too much nitrogen and it just went a bit silly. To be fair on the things i've only tried it the once. They're a kind of convulvulus, not a kind of potato. I know they need warmth, food, moisture, and make sure about weeding to start. They spread out like melons but mine were leggier and soil showed through.

Tomatoes are really good though. and home grown taste so much nicer!

 

If you plant okra, be prepared to cut it every day. Ask me how I know.

 

Eat the leaves that grow. That is how I solve that problem now.

 

I live in the North DFW metro area (Collin County) and I have great luck with radish, lettuce, garlic (planted in October and harvested in May), onions, strawberry (2 years to produce), garlic chives, oregano, peas, pole beans, poison oak/poison ivy and weeds. The last three were meant as a joke.

A square foot garden and container will have to be watered twice a day or more when it gets above 95 degrees every day. Mulching helps, but containers will still dry out fast.

Good luck and stay cool this coming DFW summer.

 

I always suggest amaranth. It's very easy to grow, isn't picky about soil or conditions and has few natural pests or diseases. The entire plant is edible and nutritious. It's also fast growing, so you can start harvesting greens early on and continue throughout the season. Then at the end, it rewards you with a big seed head full of seeds that contain one of the few natural sources of complete protein.

It's also quite decorative and can be used in landscaping without standing out as being edible to passersby.