What are the best and easiest vegetables to grow in Oklahoma? First, growing anything in Oklahoma is a dare. You never know if spring will suddenly end, and hot weather will linger for days, or if a hail storm or a tornado will foul up your spring planting.
Oh, and God bless the freakin’ deer, raccoons, rabbits, and squirrels. What they don’t eat, they dig up and tear apart. Now, with those caveats aside here are the best and easiest vegetables to grow.
Here are my best and easiest vegetables to grow in Oklahoma.
- Lettuce. Sow seeds directly outdoors at the end of February, and you should have success. Spinach isn’t always so accommodating. I find it’s easier to grow in the fall vegetable garden. Lettuce also grows well in containers, so if you have even a tiny balcony, you can still have fresh salads. Leaf, bibb, and romaine lettuce types are the easiest to grow in that order. ‘Black Seeded Simpson’ lettuce, a favorite of mine once grown by my grandmother, is a classic.
- Kale and Chard. Plant seeds outdoors at the same time as lettuce. They are easy, but being a cole crop, kale can be attacked by cabbage moth larvae. Occasionally, cabbage moth caterpillars also attack my Swiss chard, but they don’t do as much damage.
- Green or spring onions. Plant onion sets (those little bulbs you see at the nursery) at the same time you plant your lettuce or start onion seeds indoors under lights.
- Snow peas and sweet podded peas. Both of these types of peas are easily grown in Oklahoma. Shelling peas are harder to grow here because our spring weather can suddenly turn hot before the pods are fully filled out.
Do not confuse any edible peas with sweet peas, which are beautiful, sweetly scented, and poisonous.
- Mediterranean herbs. Most herbs love containers, so they are another excellent deck or balcony choice.
- Basil. I usually buy one or two basil plants to get a head start and then plant seeds. There are many different types of basil. Get the one you want for the cooking. I especially enjoy growing Everleaf Emerald Towers basil–which never goes to flower from Botanical Interests Seeds–and Thai basil, but I have grown many others. Here’s an article I wrote for Family Handyman about how to grow basil.
- Parsley, both curly and flat, is easy, but the seeds are very slow to germinate. I usually buy transplants or start them indoors early.
- Thyme is easy to grow, but I buy transplants. The only type of thyme I’ve ever had trouble with is the fuzzy type. It wouldn’t grow for me.
- Sage is an easy and hardy perennial.
- Oregano was aggressive in my garden, so I would only grow it in a container.
- Mints are bad actors who want to take over, so, again, use containers. I especially like spearmint and chocolate mint.
- Rosemary is a tender perennial that likes good drainage. Sometimes it overwinters, and sometimes it doesn’t. I still plant it from transplants when I need to replace it. You can now get rosemary varieties with blue flowers, like Hill’s Hardy, but I’ve found them even less hardy. Here’s an article I wrote about how to grow rosemary for Family Handyman.
- Summer squash. What would summer in Oklahoma be without summer squash sauteed, wok-fried, or floured and fried like my Grandma Nita used to do? Our family loves zucchini, yellow crook neck, straight neck, and spaghetti squash. If you want to grow summer squash organically, you will need to try several methods to keep squash bugs off of your plants. Also, remember to pick the fruits small. No one likes baseball-bat-sized zucchini.
- Tomatoes. You can start seeds indoors under lights, but the easiest way to grow is to buy tomato transplants. Plant transplants well after your last frost date (approx. April 20 in central Oklahoma.) If you’re an inexperienced gardener, stick with disease-resistant hybrids. You’ll save yourself a lot of time and agony. Heirloom tomato varieties taste fantastic, but so does almost any homegrown tomato compared to those in the store. Heirlooms can be more finicky, but ‘Cherokee Purple’ is a great variety tested throughout the U.S. Other tomato favorites are: ‘Super Fantastic,’ ‘Park’s Whopper,’ ‘Rutgers’ (often listed as an heirloom, but it was developed at Rutgers University), ‘Beefsteak’ and ‘Supersteak’ for my main season slicers. For cherry tomatoes, Supersweet 100, Sungold, Yellow Pear, Chocolate Cherry, and Sweet Million. You can easily grow tomatoes and other vegetables in pots, and cherry tomatoes especially adapt well to container gardening.
- Beans, especially green beans, are oh-so-easy. The easiest beans for me are the bush beans like ‘Contender’ and the ‘Blue Lake.’ I find pole beans harder to grow.
- Melons like cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon are pretty simple fruits to grow in our heat with cantaloupe being the easiest. Melon flowers are also beloved by pollinators. Our favorite cantaloupe is ‘Ambrosia.’
- Pumpkins and other winter squash are pretty simple to grow too. They require a long warm season to develop, so read the package to ensure you get your squash planted at the right moment. You don’t want your pumpkins to ripen way before or after Halloween.
- Potatoes, most any kind do well if you plant them by St. Patrick’s Day, easy to remember because he’s one of the patron saints of Ireland. I like new, red potatoes so that’s the type I grow. I always eat them before they mature to full size. I must have something with my green beans.
- Okra, a relative of hibiscus, adores our weather and needs its space, but it is also easy to grow. Remember to pick okra daily once it starts forming pods. Large pods become inedible.
- Corn is wonderful if you can keep it from the raccoons. I especially love the variety ‘Bodacious.’
- Strawberries. It takes about three years before you get a decent berry crop. You’re supposed to pinch off the blossoms the first summer, and yes, I know it’s hard, but your berries will produce better in the following year. There are ever-bearing, June-bearing, and day-neutral types. My friend and co-podcaster, Carol Michel, wrote a great article about how to grow strawberries.
If you want more information on starting a summer vegetable garden, check out our podcast episode on how to do it.
This year, no matter what size garden space you have, try growing some of your own veggies. You’ll be amazed at the taste. Just start with a small raised garden. Then, just water and wait, but don’t forget to weed. You’ll thank me in a month or two. Oh, and be sure to plant a few flowers for the pollinators. The flowers are pretty, and lure beneficial insects into your garden.
I was so happy to happen upon your information. I moved here from New York and am really struggling to understand how gardening “works” here. I’ve read quite a bit from the Cooperative Extensions but I can’t figure out how to reconcile planting everything in full sun (as is recommended)and surviving the summer heat (which seems to want to kill all my plants) even with close monitoring of my watering and a good layer of mulch. It’s good to know which plants to start with so I at least start off on the right foot!
Dee, you are my inspiration!! I don’t know how you do it. My vegetable garden is always pitiful. I hope to improve when I retire. It always seems that my school responsibilities increase in the spring at just about the time that I should be starting seeds for the garden. I usually end up buying plants. You forgot the WIND! I did start some tomatoes this year and managed to get them out to the garden and forgot to protect them and of course the wind tore them to shreds. A gust also toppled our apple tree! One step forward, two steps back. Thank the Lord for flowers. 🙂 And produce markets.
.-= mary´s last blog ..Three Birthdays =-.
Mary, I’m so sorry about the wind. Yes, especially on the plains the wind is awful. We’ve had quite a bit of wind ourselves this year, and I live surrounded by trees.~~Dee
Thanks for all the great information about gardening in Oklahoma. I was raised on a farm and never thought I would ever garden after moving away from home but now I can’t ever imagine not having a vegetable garden.
I planted Sungold tomatoes this year and now after reading your opinion on them I really can’t wait to try some. I grew some Black Cherry last year and they were wonderful.
Hi Jeana, thank you so much for visiting. It’s funny what we miss when we move from home isn’t it? I missed those times we visited my grandmother’s house, and she made the most wonderful food, a table literally groaning under all the vegetables. I also miss my mother’s fried ribs and the catfish. Perhaps, one day, when I’m feeling thin, I’ll make some. 🙂 ~~Dee
What wonderful information. There’s no substitute for experience.
Someday Dee, you’re going to write a best-selling book on practical ‘down-to-earth’ gardening. Begin thinking of a title.
.-= Janell West´s last blog ..Making All Things New =-.
Hi Janell, I hope to write a book someday. I think I could help people garden in our part of the universe, but then again, I help them here in the blog too, so whatever God wills.~~Dee
Lots of good stuff here … both edible and advice! I would think herbs might love Oklahoma!
.-= joey´s last blog ..WORDLESS WEDNESDAY ~ ‘THE HEART OF A GARDENER’ =-.
Thank Joey. Yes, herbs are very easy to grow here. Basil bolts too fast, but that’s okay. You can always plant more seed or keep pinching off the blossoms.~~Dee
LOVE trying to keep up with you Wonder Woman.
Love,
Sharon
Ha! You’re the one traveling all over the U.S. promoting your book. I’m just here keeping the home fires burning. 🙂 ~~Dee
I’ve never eaten it, but I love that red chard; it is so vibrant! It’s turning hot here, 90 today, so it’ll be moving on up the road toward you soon; spring will be over and we’ll be smack dab in the middle of summer.
.-= Nola at Alamo North´s last blog ..Still In The Garden, Waiting =-.
Nola, it tastes good, and it is so pretty.~~Dee
I’ve not planted anything this year. Part of it has been procrastination. Part of it is fear because the nice raised beds we created last spring have been used by the neighborhood stray cats as 2 giant litter boxes all winter and even now. I don’t know how to keep them out. I also have seen stuff online that you can’t use the soil/beds due to potential illness. I’m at a loss as to what to do at this point. Any suggestions?
Karla, I’m sorry to hear the cats are driving you nuts. When you’re feeling extra strong, I would remove the top layer of soil from the beds. Then, I would replace it with fresh soil, sprinkle a lot of hot pepper in and around your plants. Before winter fully sets in, I would also cover the beds to keep the cats out for next year. I would plant, but I would also wear gloves even though I’d removed the soil.~~Dee
First of all, your red chard is beautiful! Secondly, how do you put the plant names on the old spoon? That is awesome. Durable I’m sure and too cute! Please do tell. I did a few searches in your blog for “label” and for “spoon” but didn’t see them in the results.
.-= Gardener on Sherlock Street´s last blog ..Picnic Table Part 5 =-.
I wish I could claim making those, but alas, I cannot. I bought mine locally at an antique store, but you can find lots of them on Etsy.com. Just search antique spoon plant markers.~~Dee
Great advice, especially about the pollinators. I’m very jealous about your comment about kale and chard – “easy”. Well I planted a bunch of seedlings of each and between the birds and squirrels digging in my beds, I ended up with only two of each! And I so love those veggies. Re: fuzzy thyme, I have some in a part of my raised bed where the sprinkler doesn’t hit. It’s grown fairly big. It must like it really dry.
Hi Jean, I don’t start the chard or the kale. I just put seeds in the ground. Yes, sometimes the blasted squirrels, birds and other wildlife make gardening very hard don’t they? I just can’t grow that fuzzy time. Perhaps I do water too much.~~Dee
Sounds like many of the same things that grow well here in Tennessee! I’m with you on the oregano – I have plenty, and I’ll have plenty more soon. It doesn’t stop.
We’re doing fine here but others haven’t been so lucky in TN. The waters are receding though and sunny skies make things seem much better.
.-= Dave´s last blog ..The Tennessee Flood of 2010 Part 1 =-.
Dave, thank you for the update. I’m concerned for all my TN friends. That was a terrible flood.~~Dee
Climate differences: I can barely keep oregano going from one year to the next.
.-= Kathy from Cold Climate Gardening´s last blog ..Cold Climate Gardening Nominated for Best Rural/Farming Blog =-.
Yes, climate makes all the difference.~~Dee
Thank you for the much needed info. I am a new gardener and love reading your blog. For some reason all the seedlings I started in organic jiffy mix with peat pots back in March did not grow very well, mostly tomatoes and peppers. I have since transplanted them(about a week ago). Only standing about 2 to 3 inches tall, I am wondering if I should buy plants from the store. P.S. My sister planted hers in peat pellets and they have grown so much better.
Hi Lynn, your comment made my day. I started this blog to help people. I’m glad I helped you. As to your plants, once they are outside, with water and good soil, they will catch up eventually, but it can’t hurt to buy a few plants to hedge your bets. Peat pellets warm up faster, and that’s why your sisters’ plants have grown taller in a shorter amount of time. They also may have fertilizer in them. I’m not sure. HTH.~~Dee