

For your first garden, start small and pick crops that grow well in most soil types. Photo by iStockphoto/Chris Price.

I’m ready to garden! What are the best crops for me to grow in my first garden?

To guarantee the success of your first garden, stick with the easy vegetables listed here, which grow well in minimally improved soil. (Over time, you can improve your soil by adding organic fertilizers and compost.)

Begin planting your first garden in early spring, about four weeks before your average last frost. Locate information this information in Know When to Plant What: Find Your Average Last Spring Frost Date.

In early spring, kick off the season with these easy-to-grow vegetables and herbs:

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Salad mix, aka mesclun, is a seed blend of lettuces and other salad-worthy greens. Buy two packets — one that’s mostly lettuce and another that includes mustards, kales or escaroles so you can learn how all these greens grow. Sow small patches of each mix, and then plant a little more a few weeks later. Save your leftover seed in the fridge and plant it in late summer for a lush fall crop.

Perennial herbs such as thyme and sage are easy to grow, and they come back each year. Purchase starts, which are grown from cuttings of superior varieties.

Potatoes grow from sprouting spuds, and you can grow only one or two plants and get good yields. In your first garden, try planting a few small, organic potatoes purchased at the store.

In late spring, plant these vegetables after your last frost has passed: