What seeds shall I grow for a new vegetable patch?

[sleepy78]

Hello. My second post today!
My class are going to create a small vegetable/ herb patch in wooden planters. We want to start some seedlings in the classroom. But the question is... what shall I start with? What is easy to grow and will be edible?

Most veg have a bit of a technique required to bring them to maturity.
Potatoes are as easy as any, you basically just bury them about 10cm deep at the end of March. But they do take up a lot of space.
You could also try cucumbers and courgettes which are relatively easy, but again take a lot of space. You need to start them off indoors then plant out when they have 4 true leaves.
Lettuce is good, it should be planted in situ. You could also try herbs such as basil and coriander, again start off indoors then plant out when all risk of frost is over. Good luck!

Thanks whataboutbob - I definitely have no technique but we have a lot of enthusiasm! My kids are slightly obsessed by the idea of growing carrots and beans... what do you think?

Carrots can be tricky and I’ve never managed to grow a decent one in my London clay soil ( they resembled orange octopi) . They need light/ sandy soil to develop a long straight tap root.
Beans are a whole lot easier. You can literally Chuck the seeds in the ground in April/ May and watch them come up. French beans and runner beans are equally easy. They just like rich soil, you could enrich it by digging in veg peelings and scraps ( ideally chopped down) into the planters about now.

That's a good idea. Ok vegetable peelings in the planters.I'll start doing that now. Like potato peelings?
I don't really know how to describe the soil here - I'm abroad. It seems nice Not particarly chalky or clay like? How do I test that?
The carrots at school would be in pots or bags so I would buy soil. Do you know what type I should look for? The kids really want to grow carrots!

For carrots I'd recommend commercial compost with some sand added in if you can ( don't buy builders sand, it has to be gardening grade). You need the soil to be fairly deep.
Any veg peeling is good, if you can blitz it in the blender prior to digging in so much the better.
Re soil, if you squeeze it and it forms a sausage it's clay. If it's crumbly it's loam ( the best), if it doesn't take any shape at all and runs out of your fingers it's sandy.

Check out 'square foot gardening'

I've been growing veggies with varying success for three years now.

Tumbling tomatoes are good because apart from watering they just do their thing. I always get masses of cucumbers but they scramble and are a bit prickly (including the leaves and stems).

Never had any joy with cauliflowers, but cabbages I have!

Courgettes are easy too and pumpkins but again they need a lot of space.

Lettuce, spinach, pak choi and radishes are also easy but I think I sow those direct. (I have to read the seed packets, haven't got to the stage where I remember everything just yet!)

www.suttons.co.uk/Gardening/Vegetable-Seeds/Featured-Vegetable-Seed-Ranges/Fun-to-Grow---Seeds-for-Kids/list.htm?pl=2147483647

I've planted the rondo carrot seeds listed here in shady clayish soil and they were no bother. Same with beetroot.

DonPablo thanks for the hint to look at square foot gardening. I just ordered a book about it! It looks perfect for our needs at school.
SuperLoud brilliant - I'll look into that too.

Dwarf beans are easy, not too much space and my kids love eating them. I think carrots are quite difficult. Tomatoes? What about sunflowers?

What about peas they are easy. Push the seeds into the ground and stake them as they grow.

Beans, runner or French are fine to grow in the same way. Or in pots to start with and transplant to the soil later on.

Thanks livingthegoodlife and Dobby
I bought some peas and normal beans. I don't know what a dwarf bean is but I'll have a look... I'm very excited!

Dwarf bean is one that doesn’t grow so tall. So maybe 2ft max. Instead of 6-7ft.

by dwarf beans, i mean dwarf growing French Beans! sorry.

seeds.suttons.co.uk/gardening/Dwarf-French-Beans

they are small compact bushes with loads of tasty beans. the actual beans are normal sized just the plant is dwarf sized.