Last weekend, my beloved and I put in a vegetable garden, our first since buying the house we currently occupy on one acre in West Michigan. He’s a country boy who grew up milking cows for pocket money; I’m a aging street urchin from a decaying industrial city just east of Chicago. We are trying to save money, like most working people in this country right now.

On my most recent grocery shopping trip, bell peppers were running $3.99 per pound. One pound equals about three peppers. For $10.99, I bought enough pepper plants for the garden to bury our entire house in peppers of every color long about late July or early August. So, we’re motivated. We have good reason to garden. And what’s more, I’ve invested in canning supplies and we own a second-hand freezer. I’m as ready as I’m ever to going to get.

Nevertheless, I have a talent for killing plants. I love plants, but there aren’t too many of them I haven’t had a chance to kill without even really trying. Back in my days as a nursery manager, I mostly talked about plants and sold them to people who knew what to do with them. I liked that. But grow them myself? Yikes.

Here is some good news for all of you frugal but horticulturally challenged citizens: Some vegetables are so easy to grow that even I can’t kill them. You can save a lot of money by growing even a few of these tasty items, even if all you have available are some clay pots and a sunny patio:

Pole Beans

Bush beans take up less room, but pole beans produce and produce and produce. The more you pick them, the more beans they make. Pole beans come in all colors and sizes, and have attractive dark-green heart-shaped leaves that like to ramble up a post or frame or even some nails with string attached up the side of a wall. One my favorites is the old-fashioned Scarlet Runner Bean which produces brilliant red snapdragon-like blossoms followed by delicious purple beans. Freeze any extra in quart sized bags by blanching quickly in boiling water and draining thoroughly before zip-locking them up for later.

Tomatoes

Everyone in America should have at least one tomato plant. You haven’t really eaten a tomato until you’ve eaten one right off the vine. In the past, I’ve always grown sturdy patio tomatoes that make three to five fruits, tops, so when I bought tomatoes for our garden this year I bought eighteen plants in all different varieties, plus six Romas for spaghetti sauce. Apparently I am going to be canning A LOT of tomatoes. That’s OK. I’ll find a good salsa and gazpacho recipe too. I’m not afraid.

Pumpkins and Winter Squash

Rich in vitamin A and cancer-preventing antioxidants, pumpkins and winter squash grow rapidly and rampantly. You do need room and sunlight, but if you have kids, these are a must. Many varieties of winter squash keep well, and if you grow smallish pumpkins you can can or freeze the flesh for pies and pumpkin bread, and roast and salt the seeds for snacking.

Swiss Chard and Collards

Americans don’t eat enough dark green things. If we did, we’d feel a whole lot better, and contrary to popular belief there are wonderful ways to cook these greens. A good corn bread recipe is an absolute must, and a piece of ham or smoked turkey wing and some little potatoes are nice additions, but even vegetarians can enjoy greens lots of wonderful ways. Swiss Chard is available in a rainbow variety that can be stir fried until just barely wilted after the multicolored stems are chopped and cooked in a little garlic oil. Rainbow Chard cooked that way is dramatic, colorful, and unforgettable, and guess what? So long as it gets sun and water it’s hard to kill.

Mesclun (Fancy Mixed Lettuce)

You’ll pay $3 to $4 for a small bag of organic mixed salad greens at the grocery store, but for $4 you can buy three packages of seed mix and grow your own from late spring to early fall. Lettuce picked fresh and served immediately is more nutritious too, and contains trace minerals missing from most American diets.

Peppers (AKA Chiles)

Peppers are easy to grow if you have sunlight and water them regularly. If you like stuffed chiles you can grow Poblano Peppers and freeze them in individual meal sized containers after blanching, stuffing, and covering them in sauce. Yum. You can also grow all manner of little super-hot chiles in all kinds of bright colors, and roast them and then flavor oils with them for cooking.

Pea Pods

These delicious little boogers cost a fortune at the grocery store, but if you have a wire fence or a wall for them to climb on, you can grow your own in the spring and fall. They like cooler weather and won’t do well for you in the heat of summer, but they’re perfect for before and after the other veggies have already had their day. Don’t expect to freeze any. Be honest: you’ll be lucky if they even make it into the kitchen. My kids used to inhale them right off the vine as fast as they appeared, and if you have vegetable-phobic kids, that is definitely a good thing.

These are just a few ideas to get your started. Growing your own is well worth the effort for lots of other reasons too, not the least of which are sun, exercise, and pride in your accomplishment. When we all start to remember that vegetables come out of the earth, not out of plastic containers, our attitudes toward the earth and the sun and our water supply really do begin to change.

So you see, it’s all good. And even I can do it. Bon appetit!