Mustard greens are a cool-season crop that are easy to grow. They tolerate a light frost and can be grown all winter in warmer climates. Exposure to frost makes the leaves sweeter, and warm weather makes the leaves spicier.
Like its cucurbit cousins—watermelon, cucumbers, and squash—melons and Armenian cucumbers produce numerous fruitful vines. There are countless varieties of melons—hundreds if not thousands, not counting many that go unrecorded worldwide.
While different than the common bean, lima beans have a similar growing habit. Some lima beans are vining crops that need to be trellised while other varieties have a bush habit that allows them to be planted without support.
Lettuce is an ideal crop for beginner growers and seed savers alike. Gardeners can choose looseleaf varieties that do not form heads or grow iceberg lettuces that form a head of tightly overlapping leaves.
Commonly known as ground cherry, dwarf cape gooseberry, and strawberry tomato, this plant produces a small, yellow, edible berry surrounded by a papery husk.
Although cowpea is a well known garden plant in the South, this crop deserves more attention across the country. Its long, slender pods are filled with a prolific number of seeds.