1. Radish

Radishes have got to be the Number 1 easiest vegetable to grow. Push the seeds into the soil in March onwards in pots or the ground and ‘hay presto’ a radish after a minimum of 4 weeks.

Radishes are a great vegetable to start children off growing with as they are a quick crop.

2. Beans

Runner beans, dwarf beans, climbing beans, borlotto beans, broad beans and more are so easy to grow especially as the temperatures are getting warmer in May. Sow the seeds in pots or the ground and wait for up to two weeks for seedlings to emerge. They will need a wigwam or trellis to grow up.

Bean seeds are also great to get children growing with as the seeds are larger for the children to hold on to to plant into soil. If you start a bean seed off in a clear plastic pot, with a wet tissue in the bottom you will seed how the seed unfolds to germinate. This is fascinating for children and adults alike.

Check out his video from The DadLab who show you how to setup the bean germination in a jar.

3. Peas

Almost 100% guaranteed germination (as long as you don’t have mice) in the ground or in pots. You can’t go wrong with Peas. They are strong, hardy and love to wrap their tendrils around string or netting to pull themselves upwards. Keep them well watered during dry periods.

Here’s how I have sown my peas in root trainers this year.

4. Cut and Come Again Lettuce

Loose leaf lettuce or cut and come again Lettuce is genius. Sow the initial seeds in the ground when the temperature is above 10 degrees centigrade and it will grow into individual lettuce leaf plants.

When you fancy a bit of lettuce in your sandwich, pop out to the garden and cut off a few leaves, they will re-grow and you’ll have some more lettuce leaf by the next week,with out having to sow anymore seeds.

4. Perpetual Spinach

I love spinach which is another leafy vegetable where the leaves just keep coming after you have picked your harvest. Perpetual spinach over normal spinach because perpetual keeps going through the summer months and doesn’t bolt (flower) as easily as normal spinach. Perpetual spinach leaves can be large and it is a hardy plant.

5. Beetroot

Beetroot take a bit longer to germinate in the ground and are slower growing but they are so worth it. They are easy to grow as the seeds are often in clusters so it’s almost certain one of the seeds will germinate. You could easily sow and leave alone until late summer and they will be ready to pull out of the ground.

It’s worth noting, it’s best to thin out if you have planted the seeds on top of one another otherwise you’ll only get a skinny root instead of a beetroot.