Vegetables suitable for a very lazy gardener?

[darcymum]

I want something that I can just plant and forget about, can manage a bit of weeding though. Ideally something that will be bountiful year after year without me having to replant. Do they have a vegetable like that, that will come up year after year a bit like daffodils or am I asking to much?

No root vegetables either, to much digging! And besides how do you know they're ready?

Rhubarb works like that. Stick it is a corner and it comes up year after year. Also jerusalem artichokes keep coming back.

My bit of gardening involves four tomato plants in pots tucked in the corner by the back door. When I get in I sit on the back step in the sun and water them and drink a glass of wine. It's my de-stress five minutes, requires absolutely no skill or weeding and they taste miles better than the shop ones.

courgettes/tomatos need doing every year but are v easy just water them

We moved to this house in January and found that we have some rhubarb (hurray!) It forced its way up from under an old piece of wood we had left lying around and looks great now.

I put some courgettes in that I bought as plugs, I think they are dead though, that's why I want something to replace them with.

Fruit trees! And rhubarb.

6 strawberry plants.

Clear a patch, then plant when it's been raining & the ground is wet. Weed occasionally, water if the weather is dry, You will get some every year & the plants will spread. (though not as many as if you fuss over them).

Thanks for all the suggestions. Strawberries sound lovely, any vegetables though?

Courgettes - easiest veg imaginable, plant new ones each year after last frost
Butternut squash/pumpkin - ditto, need manure and lots of space again new ones each year plant out after last frost
Dwarf beans also very easy - ditto the above

Asparagus
Rhubarb

Also look up "forest gardening" and to some extent permaculture because that is all about doing exactly the kind of veg growing you want to do. If you are anywhere near SOuthend then there are two allotments which for the past 16 years have been tended on forest gardening principles and they are v low maintenance and produce loads of stuff. And the people that have these allotments are lovely and very happy to share their knowledge. Or their are gardens in Slough, Lea (East London) and Hertfordshire and probably loads more. A good name to google is Graham Burnett

Artichokes

LouSouthend-

I've been digging around on some of your thoughts above.

I am a committed digger as I actually like working the soil and love seeing the changes I can make on my food production bit. BUT for the rest of my horticulture, I like to let the world get on with it.

Do you have any good links or sites? It all looks v intersting.

Radishes -only don't plant the entire packet in one go which is what the DC did. You end up with a lot of radishes if you do that

I will look up forest gardening. Radishes sound great if they are that easy although are of limited appeal on a plate. Thanks and keep the suggestions coming.

Fruit.

Blackcurrants, redcurrants, rspberries, and rhubarb.

Definitely fruit . We were very lucky and inherited rhubarb, gooseberries and raspberries on allotment and they are magically doing their stuff with no effort from me and no watering. Have strawberries in my garden which are thriving on neglect.

Strawberries do grow like weeds and are hard to kill, but they require a little maintenance when they begin to fruit. You need to lay down some straw (hence the name) or soft bedding of some sort otherwise they'll rot on the wet dirt.

Runner beans, mange tout etc require little care except for training onto a wire and are hard to kill.

Rocket leaves are dead easy, will grow in any soil and won't die. Plant them immediately.

If you get a courgette seedling and plant it in a deep well of compost in a sunny spot it ought to thrive unless the summer turns out rubbish again. When they are going well they provide a lot of food.

Indeed as previously posted, rhubarb is the easiest crop of all.