Biggest bang-for-buck fruit/vegetables to plant?

[ketchup]

I have unlimited space (live on 200 acres), no current gardening equipment apart from a compost bin and a shovel, and nine Australian Shepherds that would need to be kept away from anything we try to grow.

I have zero preference on method or anything, but would rather not spend a billion dollars putting it all together.  I'm thinking berries or herbs, any other suggestions?

(Northern IL, south of Chicago)

[nereo]

Bejezus - 200 acres...  I would go nuts.  Once had a half-acre garden and I just had a field day growing stuff most backyard gardeners don't bother with (like corn).

Caveat #1:  Plant only what you want to eat.  Doesn't matter if it's the greatest cost-benefit if you don't want it.
Caveat #2: All plants have their preference for sun, soil, temperate and water.  Anything below is pretty easy IF you get those right.  But all plants will be difficult if you try to grow them where htey don't want to grow.


Peas:  Listing first because I'm convinced these are the easiest thing in the world to grow.  literally poke them into the soil and you get plants a few weeks later and peas shortly after that.  frost doesn't kill them, they have few pests.  About all you need to do is give them something to climb on.  Bonus, as snap peas and snow peas are often ~$3/lb in the grocery store it's pretty good return on very little effort.

Herbs:  For me this is the best value, since small packets of fresh herbs cost $2 in the store, or I can have a constant supply in planter boxes.  And I use them in *every* meal.  Sage and Rosemary might be the easiest, and as perennials once established they will just grow every year.  Oregano is also super hearty. Bonus, you can dry them and stock for winter.  Basil is prolific but will bolt within a few weeks if you don't pinch the buds back and harvest frequently.

Potatoes:  Another dirt-simple crop that will yield you a TON of veggies... only downside is potatoes are so cheap to buy... so many say 'what's the point'.  But they are pretty plants IMO, and you've got the space...

Chard:  Plant in early spring and agian in fall... how easy is chard?  well my SO once spilled a bunch of seeds on her way to planting them... they just sprouted up basically all over the garden and we ate them for months.

Cucumbers: Another easy plant with high yields, so long as it gets sufficient water.  I frequently get >50 cucumbers per plant, some of which I turn into pickles.

Tomatoes.  These can be tricky because unlike the others on this list they are susceptable to fungal infections.  Rotate which beds you plant tomatoes in each year, and plant them deep.  I mention them here because ripe tomatoes are so much better than store-bought ones that are picked in the 'breaker' stage (still mostly green and 'ripened' off vine), and because if you dodge pathogens each plant will give you dozens of tomatoes each week, and there's a ton of varieties.   Bonus: a lot of tomatoes will grow very, very well in 5-gal buckets with holes poked in the bottom.

Apple Trees.  Since you've got acreage, why not plant a row of apple trees?  You'll get more than you know what to do with

Berries... I honestly don't know how they grow in your area but around here (New England) if you plant Raspberry and Blackberry your biggest concern in 3 years will be cutting back all the new thickets which have spread out.  Downside is they can be a magnet for some birds which will eat your crop, requiring you to either sacrafice a lot of the berries to them or put up bird netting.  When the Disney animators drew the scenes from Sleeping Beauty where the kingdom gets overgrown with thickets I'm pretty sure they had raspberries in mind.  They will take over everything if you let them.

...those are the ones I'd start out with if you are shooting for good value/low work.

[MDM]

In addition to nereo's list,

Zucchini (start with two plants and see...)

Tomatillos (not a tomato despite the similar name)

Spicy peppers (how spicy is up to you)

Bell peppers

[kei te pai]

Leafy greens for salads - lettuce of all types, rocket (argula), mesclun mix, mizuna. So nice to pick a handful of fresh leaves 5 minutes before you eat. I leave one or two plants to go to seed, then just shake the seeds over a spare space in the garden and leave them to carry on.
Leeks and rhubarb are good staples and can be harvested as you need.
Mint and parsley.
A few plum trees (check which ones pollinate each other).
Sunflowers for happiness

[Moonwaves]

You might enjoy readig The Food Lover's Garden: Amazing Edibles You Will Love to Grow and Eat by Mark Diacono - a look at some of the more unusual things to grow. Why not grow peppercorns instead of ordinary onions and that kind of thing.

He also has a new book out called Grow and Cook that you can buy from his website, paying the price you feel most applies to you, which I think is a great thing.


Disclaimer: I have no connection to Mark Diacono other than being a fan and, once, many years ago, receiving a free review copy of the book mentioned above (somewhat boring review here, if anyone is interested). I also loaned that book to someone and never got it back, which still irritates. I definitely think it's one to buy and keep for reference.

[Eowyn_MI]

Garlic is super easy to grow and it tastes significantly better than anything you can buy in the grocery store.  Only catch for this year is that it should have been planted in October last year.  However, you have lots of time to prepare a spot for planting this fall.  Hardneck garlic varieties grow better in northern climates.  If you cover the newly planted garlic cloves with a layer of straw or other mulch you shouldn't have to do much (if any) weeding before you harvest the garlic in July.

I'll add another vote for potatoes.  They might be cheap at the store but homegrown potatoes taste significantly better.  These do take some work with hilling and weeding but it can all be done with a shovel.

Herbs are a good idea!  These are perennials that take zero effort after getting them established:
We grow all of the oregano and thyme that we use during the year.
I don't use much sage but its easy to grow in a dry sunny location.
Rosemary may need to be protected or it could die during the winter.  However, it grows very well in an unheated greenhouse.

Basil is certainly worth growing but needs to be planted every year.  Same with parsley.

[RetiredAt63]

9 Australian Shepherds and 200 acres?  Grow sheep!    ;-)

[nereo]

9 Australian Shepherds and 200 acres?  Grow sheep!    ;-)

Yeah, how do you have nine ‘working dogs’ with no work for them to do?  How do you keep them all busy?

@Moonwaves - thanks for the book recommendation (even if not given to me).  I’ll check it out.

[maizefolk]

Leeks and rhubarb are good staples and can be harvested as you need.

I've never heard rhubarb called a staple before, but I like it!

[nkt0]

+1 to raspberries. Might also want to look into currants. We've really enjoyed our tiny red currant bush, which yields about 1-2 cups of jelly a year. :D

[nereo]

Leeks and rhubarb are good staples and can be harvested as you need.

I've never heard rhubarb called a staple before, but I like it!

I need to plant some rhubarb in our new locale.  That's one where, if you find the right conditions for it you can absolutely ignore it and it'll come back bigger each year.  Around here it seems to grow really well near culverts (ample water/nutrients) and in semi-sunny spots.

[MudPuppy]

I guess this is the post that brings me out of lurkdom!




My top 5 things that are grown as annuals:
Tomatoes
Squashes (summer and winter)
Pole beans
Leafy green (chard, kale, spinach)
Herbs (and peppers if you like spice)


Top 5 "worth the wait" items:
Apple trees
blueberry bushes
asparagus
garlic
perennial onions

[erutio]

The only use of rhubarb I have ever heard of or experienced myself is in strawberry rhubarb pie.  What other uses do you all use rhubarb for?

[nereo]

The only use of rhubarb I have ever heard of or experienced myself is in strawberry rhubarb pie.  What other uses do you all use rhubarb for?

Peach-rhubarb pie
:-)

[iris lily]

The only use of rhubarb I have ever heard of or experienced myself is in strawberry rhubarb pie.  What other uses do you all use rhubarb for?

Rhibarb cake, rhubarb sauce to go over ice cream or other things, various rhubar crisps, crumbles, pies.

[maizefolk]

Pure rhubarb pie.

Also stewed rhubarb as a stand alone dish or a topping for ice cream (essentially just rhubarb pie filling).

[ketchup]

Holy crap, guys, thanks for all the answers.

First off, while the property I live on is 200 acres, I don't actually have access to all 200 acres.  Most of that is cornfield, what I have access to is more like ~30 acres, some wooded.  Mostly I just wanted to say "unlimited space" to establish that I'm not on a quarter-acre suburban lot or something, and for any gardening project I'd actually do it might as well be unlimited.  Also, we're just renting the house, but we have pretty much full reign to do whatever.

9 Australian Shepherds and 200 acres?  Grow sheep!    ;-)

Yeah, how do you have nine ‘working dogs’ with no work for them to do?  How do you keep them all busy?

@Moonwaves - thanks for the book recommendation (even if not given to me).  I’ll check it out.

Oh, they get plenty of exercise.  We definitely utilize our space.  I can tell they're more fit than when we lived in the suburbs (though we didn't have nine in the house back then).

Garlic is super easy to grow and it tastes significantly better than anything you can buy in the grocery store.  Only catch for this year is that it should have been planted in October last year.  However, you have lots of time to prepare a spot for planting this fall.  Hardneck garlic varieties grow better in northern climates.  If you cover the newly planted garlic cloves with a layer of straw or other mulch you shouldn't have to do much (if any) weeding before you harvest the garlic in July.

I'll add another vote for potatoes.  They might be cheap at the store but homegrown potatoes taste significantly better.  These do take some work with hilling and weeding but it can all be done with a shovel.

Herbs are a good idea!  These are perennials that take zero effort after getting them established:
We grow all of the oregano and thyme that we use during the year.
I don't use much sage but its easy to grow in a dry sunny location.
Rosemary may need to be protected or it could die during the winter.  However, it grows very well in an unheated greenhouse.

Basil is certainly worth growing but needs to be planted every year.  Same with parsley.

Herbs definitely sound like a win.  Potatoes could be fun if not as cost effective.

In addition to nereo's list,

Zucchini (start with two plants and see...)

Tomatillos (not a tomato despite the similar name)

Spicy peppers (how spicy is up to you)

Bell peppers

I definitely use enough zucchini and peppers to make those worthwhile.

Leafy greens for salads - lettuce of all types, rocket (argula), mesclun mix, mizuna. So nice to pick a handful of fresh leaves 5 minutes before you eat. I leave one or two plants to go to seed, then just shake the seeds over a spare space in the garden and leave them to carry on.
Leeks and rhubarb are good staples and can be harvested as you need.
Mint and parsley.
A few plum trees (check which ones pollinate each other).
Sunflowers for happiness

I didn't think of greens!  That makes total sense and sounds great.

Bejezus - 200 acres...  I would go nuts.  Once had a half-acre garden and I just had a field day growing stuff most backyard gardeners don't bother with (like corn).

Caveat #1:  Plant only what you want to eat.  Doesn't matter if it's the greatest cost-benefit if you don't want it.
Caveat #2: All plants have their preference for sun, soil, temperate and water.  Anything below is pretty easy IF you get those right.  But all plants will be difficult if you try to grow them where htey don't want to grow.


Peas:  Listing first because I'm convinced these are the easiest thing in the world to grow.  literally poke them into the soil and you get plants a few weeks later and peas shortly after that.  frost doesn't kill them, they have few pests.  About all you need to do is give them something to climb on.  Bonus, as snap peas and snow peas are often ~$3/lb in the grocery store it's pretty good return on very little effort.

Herbs:  For me this is the best value, since small packets of fresh herbs cost $2 in the store, or I can have a constant supply in planter boxes.  And I use them in *every* meal.  Sage and Rosemary might be the easiest, and as perennials once established they will just grow every year.  Oregano is also super hearty. Bonus, you can dry them and stock for winter.  Basil is prolific but will bolt within a few weeks if you don't pinch the buds back and harvest frequently.

Potatoes:  Another dirt-simple crop that will yield you a TON of veggies... only downside is potatoes are so cheap to buy... so many say 'what's the point'.  But they are pretty plants IMO, and you've got the space...

Chard:  Plant in early spring and agian in fall... how easy is chard?  well my SO once spilled a bunch of seeds on her way to planting them... they just sprouted up basically all over the garden and we ate them for months.

Cucumbers: Another easy plant with high yields, so long as it gets sufficient water.  I frequently get >50 cucumbers per plant, some of which I turn into pickles.

Tomatoes.  These can be tricky because unlike the others on this list they are susceptable to fungal infections.  Rotate which beds you plant tomatoes in each year, and plant them deep.  I mention them here because ripe tomatoes are so much better than store-bought ones that are picked in the 'breaker' stage (still mostly green and 'ripened' off vine), and because if you dodge pathogens each plant will give you dozens of tomatoes each week, and there's a ton of varieties.   Bonus: a lot of tomatoes will grow very, very well in 5-gal buckets with holes poked in the bottom.

Apple Trees.  Since you've got acreage, why not plant a row of apple trees?  You'll get more than you know what to do with

Berries... I honestly don't know how they grow in your area but around here (New England) if you plant Raspberry and Blackberry your biggest concern in 3 years will be cutting back all the new thickets which have spread out.  Downside is they can be a magnet for some birds which will eat your crop, requiring you to either sacrafice a lot of the berries to them or put up bird netting.  When the Disney animators drew the scenes from Sleeping Beauty where the kingdom gets overgrown with thickets I'm pretty sure they had raspberries in mind.  They will take over everything if you let them.

...those are the ones I'd start out with if you are shooting for good value/low work.

Fresh chard sounds amazing.  Funny you say that about raspberries.  Our previous house in the suburbs had raspberries all over the back yard when we moved in (in May/June-ish).  They were delicious, and our dogs loved them too... so much that they completely destroyed all the raspberry plants and they never came back.  Regardless of what I plant, we'll have to keep the dogs away.  And deer/rabbits/birds.

I know raised beds are trendy, but is it just as practical to plant most of this stuff straight into the ground?  I'm thinking I'd probably do that plus a couple containers (tomatoes and peppers probably) to keep it simple.

[YttriumNitrate]

Hello from just across the state line.

The answer to your question really depends on what you are trying to do. Are you looking to grow stuff for income, as a hobby, for self reliance, to lower your food budget, or a mixture of those things?

[ketchup]

Hello from just across the state line.

The answer to your question really depends on what you are trying to do. Are you looking to grow stuff for income, as a hobby, for self reliance, to lower your food budget, or a mixture of those things?

Definitely not income, mostly just for some extra fresh produce and if I save a few bucks all the better.

[nereo]

I know raised beds are trendy, but is it just as practical to plant most of this stuff straight into the ground?  I'm thinking I'd probably do that plus a couple containers (tomatoes and peppers probably) to keep it simple.

Raised beds have some great advantages, but most of those involve maximizing yield per area and getting full control over your soil (disclaimer:  I'm building raised beds in my suburban plot).  Since you have a **ton** of space you'll do fine just planting into the ground so long as your soil is decent.  Ever see a commercial farm used raised beds?  Yeah, me neither.  Working the soil into raised rows helps with water drainage and prevents roots from sitting in pools of water (very bad). 

[YttriumNitrate]

Definitely not income, mostly just for some extra fresh produce and if I save a few bucks all the better.

At various time in the spring, Menards sells these seeds for 9 cents a pack. [link]. Last year I bought $4 worth of seeds, threw them on the ground, and kind of raked them into the soil. I may have also watered them once. Most stuff died, but ended up with more lettuce/collards than I could stand June through October, so I had a pretty good ROI for the four bucks spent.

[RetiredAt63]

The only use of rhubarb I have ever heard of or experienced myself is in strawberry rhubarb pie.  What other uses do you all use rhubarb for?

Strawberry rhubarb is actually a variety of rhubarb (Strawberry Red, there are also Canada Red and German Wine) with nice strawberry-red stems.  Strawberries and rhubarb are available at different times (at least in my climate), so the only way to have both in a pie is to have frozen one of the ingredients.  Fortunately rhubarb is really easy to freeze.

Uses: pies, crisps, sauce over ice cream or custard, plain stewed.  First "fruit" of spring.

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

Beetroot. Not sure what the yanks might call it. You can eat the tops and the root cooked fresh, or pickle the root, shred the root and bake into chocolate cake, add to hummus, whole lot of things to do with it. I've even seen beetroot cut fine and added to berry jam to pad it out.

Silver beet, again not sure if the yanks call it something else. Grows like a weed, and it's perennial. Good for dark leafy greens. You can use it just like spinach if you cut out the white stalk - hate that white flubbery yucky stalk. Also great for chickens or livestock because you'll probably grow more than you can use, and they'll probably spend most of their time trying to get at it anyway.

Courgettes. Grow like weeds and you will have bazillions of the things. I know people who cook with them a lot and go through the whole harvest, but I'd be a bit overwhelmed. They pickle and chutney well. They don't freeze well.

[MDM]

Beetroot = beets
Silver beet = chard
Courgettes = zucchini

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

Beetroot = beets
Silver beet = chard
Courgettes = zucchini

Thanks! I always kind of wondered what in hell chard was. Never enough to actually google, obvs. I might go google collard greens right now, because they also make me wonder....

[AccidentialMustache]

* Sweet Peas (shelling) -- When the first pod is ripe eat them out in the garden as you pick. They are like candy. We didn't get any peas for the first 2 springs of DS's life. We'd sit shelling them with him toddling back and fourth between us demanding the peas we just shelled to eat.
* Kohlrabi (very good in stir fry. Can be boiled and mashed with potatoes, but they need longer to cook and/or you need to have blanced and frozen them so they fully cook in the same time. Rindy, so peel it with a knife.)
* Radishes
* Beans (specifically lima/green) -- it's hard at least where I am in central IL to find good fresh lima beans, even with a legit farmer's market in town.
* Brussels Sprouts -- if you don't like them its because you didn't get good ones. Good ones are the ones you leave on the plant until after a freeze/the 1st snow. They'll turn sweeter when you do this. Don't overcook them or you'll destroy the sweetness.
* Edamame -- but see below about pest problems
* Kennebec Potatoes -- the worlds most superior potato, but you don't find them commercially. Occasionally at the local food coop. Farm&Fleet near us usually has seed Kennebecs. Good as fries, good mashed, good baked. Will ruin other potatoes for you.

My dad is in the western Chicago burbs and grows most everything that's been mentioned. What I'm not sure he has grown (eg Kohlrabi) we have in central IL and it grows great.

Given you are out in the factory farm area, you do need to be aware of herbicide problems. If the farmer sprays and you're downwind, all your stuff may die. Also, you can forget growing anything that is attacked by the same pests as the fields nearby -- so corn and soy most likely. That may make beans difficult for you as I'm pretty sure the stupid japanese beetles will eat... well most everything, but beans for sure.

Deer are also going to be a potential issue for you as well, especially with woods.

You don't need that much space to have a garden that will take up all the time you have to give. My dad, with "only" 1 ac in the burbs, keeps himself plenty busy. Fruit trees out back, large gardens (but less than 0.2 ac in total), flower beds, etc.

Oh and rhubarb -- make jam. Pie is good too, no doubt, but jam you get to enjoy for months.

[AccidentialMustache]

For shame that I forgot -- OKRA!

If you don't like okra (aka "slimy"), try frying them. Put 'em in cold water to get the petal bits off, chop off both ends and discard (you'll undercook the base and burn the tip even if you try) and slice into just under 1/2in disks. Toss in a flour/salt mix (I use a half-cup or so of flour and pour a thin layer of salt on top straight out of the salt can), then fry over med-high in peanut oil. I do it in a standard fry pan on the stove with oil just deeper than the okra are. Pull 'em out when golden, watch it because they go from golden to burnt FAST. Dash of salt to taste, pig out. You may need to experiment with temperature and oil -- I get the best battered coat with peanut oil and a med-high heat. It is a tricky thing.

Warning: they can get tall. DW specializes in growing 8+ foot tall okra plants we're still harvesting at Thanksgiving.

[ender]

strawberry rhubarb jam is the BEST

Freeze it. I die a little everytime I see homemade canned jam :(

[imadandylion]

I think a great return is growing a garden from what would otherwise be kitchen trash.

Like, if you have any of the following, you can regrow them with or without seeds/pits:
- Herbs (basil, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, mint, etc.)
- Leeks
- Carrots
- Green onions (You could also do onions, garlic, and ginger, but I think those take longer... but if you're going to garden, why not)
- Lettuce
- Celery
- Bok choy
- Pineapple
- Sweet potato/potato
- Cabbage
- Lemongrass
- Avocado, lemon, orange, other fruits from their seeds/pits
- Tomato
- Strawberry
- Beets

Plants are resilient and very amenable to propagation.

[Telecaster]

The only use of rhubarb I have ever heard of or experienced myself is in strawberry rhubarb pie.  What other uses do you all use rhubarb for?

 Rhubarb cocktails

[nereo]

@Telecaster for the win!

[maisymouser]

@imadandylion mentioned green onions. This week I took the bottom of a green onion and threw it into water (I'll plant it if it sprouts up). Cost = $0. Super easy. If this works out I am going to save myself a loooooot of green onion buying in the future- I love them in and on everything.

[imadandylion]

@maisymouser Awesome! :) Just make sure if they're in water to change on a daily basis because they tend to get slimy and smell, which never happens to any other water propagated thing in my experience.

[nereo]

@imadandylion mentioned green onions. This week I took the bottom of a green onion and threw it into water (I'll plant it if it sprouts up). Cost = $0. Super easy. If this works out I am going to save myself a loooooot of green onion buying in the future- I love them in and on everything.

Do you need to leave the cut-end out of the water, or can you just submerge the entire bulb end?  Imadandylion mentioned daily water changes (seems like a solid idea)...  I’m guessing they should also be kept in a low-light environment (to minimize algal growth), is that correct?

Thinking I might as well give this a whirl, since we go through so many green onions and always just toss the bulb ends into the worm bin.

[imadandylion]

@nereo It's ideal to keep the cut end out of water. You won't really have a problem with algal growth if you change the water. I actually barely change the water on my herbs in water except to add more water if the level is low (either when they are being stored in a jar or water, or being propagated) and the water does not develop algae.  They will sprout in low light but it's best to have lots of natural sunlight so they can photosynthesize and grow faster.

[MudPuppy]

@maisymouser et al:

This is a great chickpea salad recipe that uses veggies easily regrown from scraps! My go-to winter recipe when the produce is underwhelming https://www.acouplecooks.com/easy-chickpea-salad-sandwich/

[lhamo]

If you are in a warmer climate or have some extra space in indoor plant containers, try just sticking the root end of a green onion in some soil.  I have several resprouting in my containers and out in the garden after starting to do this a few weeks ago.  I figure the ones that dont sprout will become compost anyway....

Edited to add so far my biggest bang for the buck vegetable has been arugula.  I paid $1.99 for a pack of seeds last spring.  I let my first crop go to seed.  I sat in two different places in my backyard while getting the seeds out of the hulls last fall.  A few weeks later, I had two giant patches of arugula sprouting there!  We have been eating 2-4 big salads every week since about February from those patches.  They are now going to seed but we are still eating the leaves.  I'm going to let them go to seed where they are, and process/spread some of the seeds to other areas of the garden to see what/how they do. 

The other big bang for the buck crop I have is berries.  I have a big blackberry bush that has grown up through the laurel hedge in the front of my house.  The first year I cut it back at the base -- stupid action.  The second year I realised the bush was using the hedge as a natural trellis, so I let it grow -- I just prune back the tips of the branches when they start to get in the way.  With this method from July-late September I can go down to the hedge and pick a handful of fresh berries every day to mix with yogurt and granola for my breakfast or lunch.  On the other side of the path I have alpine strawberries that I got for free from my sister and they usually have 5-10 berries ripening every day during that period so I throw those in, too.  I also have a nice row of regular strawberries I got for free from a neighbor last year that looks to be producing a bumper crop this year.  And raspberries I got for free from other neighbors.  And the salal that grows naturally in my back yard.  I want to get some evergreen huckleberries and blueberries to add to the mix, too.  Basically I am living in a berry paradise in the summer, all at no cost to me (except time, but I'm FIREd so I have plenty of that)!  I also go out to nearby blackberry patches and glean more to freeze/use for jam.

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

Sprouts are kind of good. Alfalfa seeds or mung beans are very cheap, you don't even have to plant them, they give you edibles very quickly, and they're full of good nutrients.

[deborah]

Lettuce. Grow a variety you like. Let a plant go to seed. You have lettuce for the rest of your life. In the right season. Different lettuce varieties grow at different times, so you might want to do this with more than one.

[kei te pai]

Rocket (argula) is another salad green which I let go to seed so there is a constant supply.

[big_owl]

Yeah lettuce for sure.  The seeds are basically free and they grow really fast. After that I'd say any type of beans.  Good protein and they're easy to grow. Almost anything else...yeah it tastes better in your own garden but it's cheaper to just buy at the store.

Im growing pumpkins this year.  Assuming it works out it should save me about $50 come halloween. That's a better ROI than anything else I've ever grown in my life.

[Missy B]

Beetroot = beets
Silver beet = chard
Courgettes = zucchini

Thanks for the translation. I thought I knew British terms for things, but was stumped on the silver beet!

[horsepoor]

I would have to say kale and chard.  Both of them will start producing, and then you can just pull off leaves as you want, and they keep on chugging into late fall/early winter.  Chard is good too, but at least in my area, it always suffers from leaf miners in early summer, so I don't get to start harvesting it as early.

Salad greens are great.  Carrots, if you have the soil for it, are nice because you can just pull up what you need, and harvest over a longer period.  If you grow a nice variety like Nantes, they taste 100x better than store bought.

Mizuna is a great green if you want something that will grow into summer.

I've been gardening for >15 years now, and over time I've gravitated towards growing things I can preserve for my own seasonings and condiments.  Lately I am growing a lot off various peppers and making fermented hot sauces and dried chile powders.  I also use my tomatoes to make homemade BBQ sauce, salsa and ketchup.  These last a few years, so I don't have to make all of them every year.  Garlic is great if you're planning to stay put for a while, because once you have the seed garlic, you just replant a portion of your cloves each year and have another crop the next year.  It is an easy, trouble-free crop.  Leeks are also a favorite of mine because they are trouble-free, and tend to be expensive to buy.

[Trudie]

I grow lots of things, but in terms of cost/benefit I think that salad greens, herbs, and shallots are really worth it.  They’re costly at the store, taste much better when homegrown, and are all easy.

[BTDretire]

For shame that I forgot -- OKRA!

Warning: they can get tall. DW specializes in growing 8+ foot tall okra plants we're still harvesting at Thanksgiving.

We been harvesting plenty of OKRA and enjoying it. We cut into about 1" pieces and put it in a bowl with a couple tablespoons of water and cover lightly. Cook for 3 minutes in our microwave. Then we have a small bowl of soy sauce that we have crushed a thai hot pepper in for dipping. OH so good!
 I hope to see 8ft Okra plants, they are a little over 3ft now.

[former player]

I grow lots of things, but in terms of cost/benefit I think that salad greens, herbs, and shallots are really worth it.  They’re costly at the store, taste much better when homegrown, and are all easy.

Yes.

Plus, don't bother with courgettes (zucchini) unless you really, really like them.

[tygertygertyger]

My staples are always tomatoes, basil, and loads of Swiss Chard. I also do potatoes.

But I came here to say something a bit different from the others... since you have access to woodland, you might consider growing mushrooms. I live in northern IL too, and we bought spores from https://northspore.com/.

We went with wine cap mushrooms (which have just started coming up) and one other one that I'm not remembering... They both grow on woodchips, so we dropped a couple bags of woodchips in a shady spot and mixed it in following the directions. Hopefully they'll start living their normal lifecycles and come back every year. (This is our first year.) The wine caps are native to the area, so I think they'll do well to keep returning.

It's something different and interesting to grow. Our dog has exhibited zero interest, but your results might vary.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

We're in California, so have a reasonably long growing season. We also have a huge amount of squirrels, which impacts how/what we grow, and how much covering they need.

Wins for the season:
Tomatoes
Jalapenos
Peppers (green, red, etc)
Parsley
Mint
Basil

Neutral (grew enough to roughly equal work/cost):
Strawberries

Not worth the time/effort:
Cucumber
Zucchini

Not sure why the cucumber & zucchini didn't work out. Second year in a row we've had the same problem. It looks like some sort of a blight on the plants, so more research required.

[trc4897]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned - Ground Cherries. If you havent had them before, they are kind of like a mix between a tomato and pineapple/mango flavor wise in my opinion. I bought some seeds this year (Aunt Molly's variety), and had 3 plants. They grew super well for me (zone 6a), and finally last week I decided I couldn't eat anymore and made a few batches of jam! So delicious! 3 plants is a good amount for 2 people, so scale according to your family size.

[MudPuppy]

They grew splendidly here. My dogs loved them.