by Jennifer Poindexter
Do you like to get as much bang for your buck as possible? Do you feel the same way when you’re deciding which vegetables to plant in your garden?
Whether you like to get as much as you can from a single plant or are working with limited growing space, it’s important to plan before you plant.
There are some crops which naturally produce abundant harvests. While other crops don’t produce as much.
If you’d like to know what you should plant to get the largest harvest you can, you’ve come to the right place.
Allow me to walk you through the vegetables most known for producing bountiful harvests. Here are your options.
1. Zucchini and Summer Squash
If you need a high-yielding crop, zucchini and summer squash is where you’ll find what you’re looking for. These vegetables can be grown during the summer and fall (in some planting zones).
They do grow to become larger plants and will need room between each plant to avoid fungal issues. You shouldn’t need to grow many of them as each plant is thought to produce roughly ten pounds of produce.
2. Tomatoes
There are two types of tomatoes. One is determinate and the other is indeterminate. If you’re looking for high yields, you should choose an indeterminate variety.
These tomatoes will produce until the first frost. Be mindful that they’ll need to be staked and possibly pruned as they’ll continue to grow as they produce. Depending upon the variety you choose, you could get as much as eight pounds of tomatoes per plant.
3. Cucumbers
There are different varieties of cucumbers. Which variety you choose will depend upon your gardening set-up. Some varieties are bush which means they’re easier to maintain. While other varieties are vines. These will need to be grown on a trellis, or they’ll sprawl all around your garden.
Cucumbers also come in a range of sizes. Some are better for pickling and others are great for using in salads. No matter what purpose you need them to fulfill, in most cases cucumber plants produce around three pounds per plant.
4. Banana Peppers
Out of all the peppers I grow, banana peppers are my favorite. It isn’t necessarily for their flavor but for the amount they produce. Even during the fall, when my garden starts to dwindle, it’s refreshing to see my banana peppers still producing a bountiful harvest.
The trick to banana peppers is to provide them with full sun and plenty of heat. Your peppers may not produce as long depending upon your planting zone. However, if you can keep your plants happy they should produce around thirty peppers per plant.
5. Spinach
Spinach is a wonderful cool weather crop. It can handle light frost and is a great option for growing in a cold frame.
This crop also grows quickly and can be ready to harvest in a little over a month. When harvesting, if you’ll cut the leaves without damaging the roots, spinach should continue to grow to provide multiple harvests.
6. Butternut Squash
I grew butternut squash for the first time this year, and I learned many valuable lessons. It was obvious from the start that these plants would need to be grown on a sturdy trellis.
However, I wasn’t fully prepared for the amount of squash a single plant could produce. One plant can produce up to 20 squash. They’re a great crop to grow for longevity as well. Once harvested, they can be stored without refrigeration for approximately three months.
7. Beets
Beets are a fast growing vegetable. They can be ready for harvest in about two months. Not only are they fast producers, but they can be planted multiple times within a year because of their growth rate.
Not to mention, they can be planted as close as four inches apart. Therefore, you can grow many beets in a small plot. Plus, beets provide multiple products. You not only get the beet beneath the soil, but you may also eat their greens. If you need a plant that will provide in many ways, and quickly, beets might be a good option.
8. Greens
When growing mustard greens, you should know that you can grow quite a few of them in a small space. All you need to do is toss the seeds over a place with fertile, well-draining soil, and you can have a vegetable ready to harvest in a month or two.
Like with spinach, if you cut the greens instead of pulling them up, they’ll regrow. Therefore, providing a continuous harvest. Where they grow quickly, you can also practice succession planting to keep your greens producing as long as possible in your planting zone.
9. Arugula
I’m a huge fan of arugula. I love the peppery flavor it provides. If you’d like a leafy green with a slightly different flavor profile, this could be what you’ve been seeking.
Arugula can be ready for harvest in about a month. It can be grown in both the spring and fall in many planting zones. As with some of the other leafy vegetables, you can have a continuous harvest if you cut the leaves instead of pulling them out at the root.
10. Potatoes
Potatoes can be a high yielding vegetable under the right conditions. If your potatoes are planted in loose soil that’s well-draining, they can produce a large harvest.
In some planting zones, potatoes can be grown in both spring and fall which would increase your harvest as well. Be sure to meet the needs of your potato plants to encourage them to produce up to ten potatoes per plant.
11. Turnips
Even if you aren’t a fan of turnips, you should still consider growing them. I don’t like the actual turnip, but I love their greens.
This high yield vegetable does well during colder portions of the year. In some planting zones, turnips can be grown in winter. Not only can you produce a lot in a small amount of space, but you can also get multiple products from one vegetable.
12. Pole Beans
Most people think of beans when they consider which vegetables are high yield. Pole beans are some of the top producing beans. They grow to be ten feet or taller, so they’ll need to be trellised.
However, they can grow longer than many other types of beans. Pole beans typically produce from two months after they were planted until the first frost of fall. They also produce twenty pods per plant. That’s quite a few beans in a growing season.
13. Leaf Lettuce
Leaf lettuce is one of my favorite types of lettuce to grow. I love it because you can grow it in the ground, in a raised bed, or in containers.
This type of lettuce takes approximately thirty days to be ready for harvest, and it’s extremely low-maintenance. If you’d like to receive a large harvest from a small growing area, leaf lettuce could be for you.
14. Okra
Okra is not something which can be planted early. It shouldn’t go into the ground until the summer temperatures are in full swing. Once this occurs, you’re ready to introduce okra to the garden.
As the plants produce, be sure to pick the okra while it’s still young and tender. The more you pick, the more you’re encouraging your plants to produce.
15. Kale
Some people skip over growing leafy greens because they don’t find them filling. If you fall into this way of thinking, you should try eating more kale. Where it’s sturdier, it tends to stick with you longer.
Not only is the sturdiness great for satiation, but it also helps the leaves hold up under colder growing conditions. You can grow kale in the spring or fall. As long as you cut the leaves and don’t damage the roots, you should receive a continuous harvest until the plant dies out.
16. Chard
Another leafy green that can produce a large harvest is Swiss chard. I love growing this plant because it comes in a variety of colors depending upon which type you choose to grow. This is great for ensuring you eat different nutrients.
Chard can provide an abundant harvest as long as you snip the leaves and don’t pull the plants up. If the roots are left intact, the plants will continue to produce until the growing season ends.
17. Radishes
Radishes are not only high yielding, but they grow fast as well. This crop only takes around forty-five days to be ready for harvest.
This vegetable doesn’t need a lot of space. Therefore, you should be able to grow a larger amount in a smaller growing area and should be able to grow multiple plantings in one growing season.
18. Peas
Our last high yield vegetable is peas. It’s important that you grow peas vertically. They should have a trellis placed a few inches behind each plant to keep them from taking over your garden.
Not to mention, peas left on moist soil will rot. Be sure to pick this vegetable when it’s young and tender to get the best flavor.
This concludes our list of high yielding vegetables. Hopefully you now have a good idea of what to fill your garden with when you need as much bang for your buck that you can possibly get out of your growing space.
Whether you need plants that keep on giving, or a plant that will grow quickly so you have time to plant more of it, there’s something on this list for you. Pick what you think you’d enjoy eating the most, and give it a try.
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