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 Grow
Your Own Fresh Vegetables and Save
By Melinda Myers
[February 28, 2026]
With escalating food prices, now is a great time to start growing
some of your own vegetables. Not only can you save money, but you’ll
enjoy great flavor and maximum nutritional value.
Take time to do a bit of planning. Your first trip to the garden
center can result in buying more plants than the space and time you
have available to grow and tend. Consider growing what you and your
family like to eat fresh. Some vegetables, like greens, broccoli and
peas, taste best when harvested from the garden and served the same
day. |
HInclude vegetables that are used in
many of your favorite recipes. Even a few garden-fresh vegetables
can boost the flavor of any dish.
Focus on vegetables that help reduce your food budget. Grow those
that are more expensive to purchase or provide a large harvest for
the available space. Tomatoes, greens, and sweet peppers are a few
favorites to consider. Sweet corn is fun and delicious to grow but
requires more space than a single tomato plant which can produce an
average of eight pounds or more of tomatoes per plant.
Once you have your list of vegetables you want to grow, start laying
out the garden. Vegetables that produce fruit we eat, like tomatoes,
peppers and squash, produce best when grown in full sun. Root crops,
like radishes and carrots, prefer full sun but can tolerate some
shade, while greens are the most shade tolerant.
Check spacing requirements for each
vegetable as you plan your garden. Seed packets, plant tags,
gardening catalogs, and websites, including your local University
Extension Service, can help. More compact varieties need less space
than their larger counterparts. Consider growing these if space is
limited or when gardening in containers and elevated planters.
If you are feeling stuck, check out one of the many preplanned
gardens you can find online. You may not find exactly what you are
looking for, but you may find it easier to adapt an existing plan
than starting from scratch.
Increase your harvest without expanding your garden with
space-saving growing techniques. Grow vegetables in wide rows,
providing the plants with just enough space to reach full size. Make
sure all parts are accessible from the surrounding pathways.
Plant short-season vegetables, like lettuce, radishes and beets, in
between those that need more space like tomatoes and peppers. You’ll
be harvesting the quick-maturing vegetables by the time the bigger
plants need the space.
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Train vining crops, like cucumber,
squash and melons, onto a support. You’ll save valuable garden
space, reduce the risk of disease and make harvesting much easier.
Create a sling from cloth or macramé and attach it to the support to
prevent the weight of large squash and melons from breaking the
vines.
Save even more time and money by
talking with your gardening friends and family. Gardeners are some
of the most generous people who are willing to share their
knowledge, tools, seeds and transplants.
Learn more about growing your own fresh produce by attending my free
webinar Getting Started Growing Vegetable and Flower Gardens on
March 26, 2026 at 6:30 PM CT. It’s free but you must register. Visit
my website MelindaMyers.com for details and if you can’t attend
live, the recording and handout will be available at your
convenience.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books,
including the Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small
Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything”
instant video and DVD series and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s
Garden Moment TV & radio program. Myers is a columnist and
contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned
by Summit for her expertise to write this article. Myers’ website is www.MelindaMyers.com.
[Photo courtesy of MelindaMyers.com]
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