High Yield Vegetables for Beginners
Before we had our current quarter-acre backyard, I was forced to plant only high yield vegetables. You see, I was confined only to our apartment balcony. With only about 6×6 feet of container gardening space, I quickly learned which high yield vegetables were worth my gardening time. (It did make some great Instagram posts, though!) While most think of lettuce & herbs as beginner gardening plants, I found a few of the “staples” to be more troublesome than my time is worth. I’m leaving out heavy producers that require clockwork maintenance. Let’s focus on beginner vegetables that will get you the biggest harvest for the least amount of your precious time.
My Favorite High Yield Vegetables
Below is a list of a few of my favorite, extremely low-maintenance producers in our backyard garden.
Zucchini Squash
In terms of ease, it doesn’t get much better than zucchini. This is the giver that will keep on giving. During the summer, I am able harvest a zucchini from one plant roughly once a day. Being one of the most productive high yield vegetables, it’s easy to fall behind on the harvest. That’s okay, because even overgrown zucchinis are still wonderful when used for baking, such as zucchini bread or chocolate zucchini muffins. It’s best to grow zucchini from direct seed, so no need to transplant, either. Bush or climbing varieties are best for those with limited space, and will even help keep away disease!
Tomatoes
It’s no wonder why tomatoes seem to be the king of backyard gardening. Tomatoes are not only high yield vegetables regarding production, but offer beauty & color as well! With most varieties, you’ll have to wait until mid-summer for a steady tomato harvest. However, once they start producing, they just don’t stop. Like zucchini, it doesn’t harm the plant’s production if you don’t manage to keep up with harvesting. I feed our overripe tomatoes to the chickens & dogs. Tomatoes will be most productive with regular care. However, mine always give me way more than I can handle with minimum investment on my part. I’ve successfully grown both bush and regular varieties in a small patio space.
Kale
Honestly, Kale is probably my most-used crop in our entire backyard garden. Although not the most “exciting” of the high yield vegetables, Kale is a hardy, steady producer. We harvest kale in a “cut and come again” method, cutting a few leaves off the bottom at a time. Just one kale leaf is plenty for my post-workout smoothie, and a few leaves are perfect for sautéing up for dinner. Even better, is kale can withstand the cold & a bit of frost. So after all your other high yield vegetables have died off, your kale plants will continue to produce for quite some time.
NOT So High Yield Vegetables
On the flip side, below is a list of vegetables I have decided aren’t worth my time. These are popular plants people assume are high yield vegetables, but in my experience, have only proven to be a pain in the butt. Of course, soil conditions & climate will play a major role in determining what grows most easily. However, in southeastern Wisconsin at multiple different properties, these are the not-so high yield vegetables I’ve written off.
Summer Squash
Even though summer squash seems so similar to zucchini squash, I’ve had far less harvest from the yellow cousin. When I plant summer squash, I typically only get one edible harvest every 1-2 weeks. The rest I lose to rot, disease, or simply poor production. I’m sure there’s a way to make this one produce like the high yield vegetables above, but it seems to be in the higher maintenance category.
Lettuce
What? But, lettuce is required for every backyard garden, right? I certainly thought so myself! Guys, I no longer bother growing lettuce at all. Although some consider lettuce one of the high yield vegetables, let me state my case. If you don’t harvest & eat lettuce regularly — as in, pretty much every day — it will bolt. (In other words, it will turn bitter and put out seed.) If the weather gets too hot? It will bolt. If it doesn’t get enough water, enough sun, too much sun… okay, I’m not 100% sure of the reasons it will bolt. But whenever I plant it, I only get 2-3 weeks worth of harvest from lettuce before it turns bitter.
Succession planting will fix this problem, but I prefer to focus on low-maintenance high yield vegetables. Succession planting is way more of a chore than I find lettuce is worth. Really, we never ate much of it in the first place, so it was a chore to get it down. Kale, one of the staple high yield vegetables, is my preferred choice. For sure.
What are your favorite heavy harvest crops?
Let us know in the comments below! We’re curious to hear about your favorite high yield vegetables as well.
Disclaimer: We’re not professionals or experts on this topic, so all we can do is share our own personal experience in hopes that it helps you in your journey! We always recommend consulting with the pros directly.