• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Home Garden Joy
  • Home
  • How to Garden
    • Seed Starting
    • Plant Profiles
    • Tools & Equipment
    • Raised Bed Gardening
  • Vegetables
  • Fruit
  • Herbs
  • About
    • Books & Classes
      • Herbalism Classes
      • Books for Christian Herbalists
      • Privacy Policy

Eat Your Greens – Spring Greens

April 9, 2009 by Jeanne

Spring greens are some of the easiest vegetables to grow. They also give me instant (well, nearly instant) gratification. I can start them early, and I can visit them when the rest of the beds remain empty and waiting out in the vegetable garden.

Why You Should Eat Your Greens

Greens are good for you. If your mom admonished you to “eat your greens!” she knew what she was talking about. Popeye, with his can of magical spinach that suddenly caused great, bulging muscles, knew a good thing when he found it too.

Spring greens offer many health benefits. Spring greens are rich in:

  • Protein. I’m not kidding about this. Among the plant kingdom, they’re a really rich source or protein, ounce for ounce. People following a raw food diet have known this for you.
  • Vitamins: Vitamin C, K, and others
  • Iron
  • Potassium
  • Many other minerals, including trace minerals
  • Fiber

Great greens that are both delicious and easy to grow include:

  • Lettuce: Can it get any easier than lettuce? Grow it early, grow it often. Sprinkle seeds, water and about a month or so later, sit down to a harvest. If you don’t lose it to slugs, you’ve got it made. Try Romaine, black seed Simpson, or one of the many salad mixes. I’m trying one specially made for southern weather this year – hopefully, I can grow it beyond the cool spring weather and into early summer. I think summertime in Virginia is going to be way too hot to grow lettuce, but my neighbors tell me they grow it almost to Thanksgiving in the fall.
  • Spinach: Eat it fresh in a salad or cook it up. Either way, it’s a great green.
  • Kale: Some people don’t like kale, but when grown at home and eaten fresh, it’s sweeter than you expect.
  • Swiss Chard: Green or rainbow colored, I’m in love with Chard. It’s another “seed it and forget it” vegetable, too.
  • Beet greens: You probably plant beets for the red root part, but beet greens are very healthy and delicious too. This year I’m growing an heirloom variety of beet called “Bulls Blood”. The tops are supposed to be great for cooking. Haven’t sown it yet (probably a chore for Monday), but it sounds great from the Burpee catalog.

These are my favorite spring greens to grow and enjoy. Add yours in the comments, below!

 

Filed Under: Vegetable Gardening

Previous Post: « How Seven Oaks Got Its Name
Next Post: Wildflowers in Virginia »

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

As Seen in Porch

 As Seen in Porch

We were featured in Porch.com and answered reader's questions about indoor plants.

Explore All Gardening Articles

a zucchini growing in a raised bed

Growing Zucchini in Raised Beds

kale growing in a raised bed

Replenishing Raised Bed Garden Soil

raised bed garden

How to Build a Vegetable Garden Using Raised Beds

a watering can next to a seed tray on a sidewalk

What Veggies Can I Plant Now?

Herbalism Classes & Supplies

Goods Shop by Herbal Academy – botanically inspired products

Disclosure

Home Garden Joy participates in two affiliate programs: Amazon and The Herbal Academy. Home Garden Joy earns a commission from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate. As an Herbal Academy Associate, HGJ also earns a commission when you sign up for classes or purchase herbs or supplies from The Herbal Academy. Herbal information and recipes on this site are provided for educational purposes only.

Footer

butternut squash growing in a raised garden bed

How to Grow Butternut Squash Organically

Learning how to grow butternut squash organically ensures you know how to grow this tasty, nutritious vegetable in your home garden. I’ll share with you some basic information on growing butternut squash, followed by some organic gardening tips that have been helpful for me here at Seven Oaks Farm in dealing with the various pests…

Read More

herbs in a pink dish

How to Make the Perfect Cup of Herbal Tea

Make the perfect cup of herbal tea, right from your own garden! In May, I gave two free talks on how to grow, harvest, dry, and create your very own herbal teas. This lecture proved so popular that I recorded the narration and uploaded it to YouTube. You can view it below: Supplies to Make…

Read More

tent caterpillars on a pear tree

How to Get Rid of Tent Caterpillars

I spent last Saturday morning getting rid of Eastern tent caterpillars from the apple and pear trees in the orchard here on the farm. Malacosoma americanum, the Eastern tent caterpillar, is a regular visitor each spring. We first spot the shimmery webs on a clear spring day. The small ‘tents’ built by the caterpillars quickly…

Read More

kale growing in a raised bed

Replenishing Raised Bed Garden Soil

Raised bed vegetable garden soil soil needs to be replenished periodically. If you’ve done your job right and selected great soil, and amended it with nice compost, you’re going to have super garden soil for the first few years. Because you don’t walk on a raised bed garden the way that you do with typical…

Read More

  • Privacy Policy
  • About
  • Awards

Copyright © 2025 Home Garden Joy on the Foodie Pro Theme