Which edible plants would grow best in your soil?

Joel Hitchens

Starting a new garden can feel like a big undertaking, especially if you haven’t done it before! Since quarantine started I have seen so many people start a garden, or get more into gardening, and it has been awesome. Having your own garden can be a source of so many different positive emotions like relaxation, self-sufficiency, self-confidence, and connectedness. This isn’t just anecdotal either, there is a fairly large body of scientific literature that supports the existence of positive emotions being tied to interactions with nature! These studies, for example, showed that people experienced improved cognitive and emotional health, and less rumination (overly intensive self reflection) after interacting with nature.

With that in mind, I am so glad that people have been turning to gardening in the midst of the pandemic. The situation has added a lot of stress and uncertainty to people’s lives, so turning to gardening is a very positive thing people can do for themselves. However gardening is also good for your community. By growing your own plants and sharing them with others you are helping address numerous environmental issues such as food waste, food security, and the carbon impact of the food supply chain.

Even with all these positives of gardening, starting from scratch can be a daunting task. If you don’t know what type of soil you have, I recommend reading the blog post on knowing the different soil types. Knowing what kind of soil you have, and what zone you are in, are really crucial to starting a successful garden. Once you know that, you can start deciding on what plants you want to start growing. With this post, I want to help you make the most informed decisions of what plants will grow best in your soil, so that you can have successes right from the start!

This list is divided up into categories based on texture and pH. If your soil is high in peat, it will be more acidic than typical loam, so you will want to refer to the acid column. Sand and silt are paired together, as they have significant overlap in terms of possible plants. Clay has its own category because of its unique drainage and texture qualities. Keep in mind that this list is a recommendation based on what these plant varieties like the most. Texture and pH are ranges, so the rules are not super rigid on what plants will like, just that the plants listed tend to prefer certain conditions. Also, this list only includes edible plants, but if you are looking for a list of ornamental plants I highly recommend this book by Geoff Hamilton. Otherwise, you can also feel free to message me and I will do my best to help you out!

Acid	Apples	Cabbage	Currants	Onions	Radishes	Strawberries	Turnips
	Beans	Carrots	Elderberries	Parsley	Raspberries	Sweet Corn
	Blueberries	Cranberries	Gooseberries	Peppers	Rhubarb	Sweet Potatoes
	Broccoli	Cucumbers	Grapes	Potatoes	Squash	Tomatoes
Alkaline	Asparagus	Cherries	Kale	Tomatoes
	Beets	Crookneck Squash	Pole beans
	Brussel Sprouts	Figs	Spinach
	Cauliflower	Garlic	Sweet Pea
Clay	Apples	Chard	Pumpkin
	Broccoli	Lettuce	Rice
	Brussel Sprouts	Pears	Snap Peas
	Cabbage	Plums	Squash
Sand/Silt	Aromatic Herbs	Collard greens	Parsnip	Watermelon
	Asparagus	Cucumber	Potatoes	Zucchini
	Beets	Garlic	Radishes
	Carrots	Onions	Turnips

You have probably noticed that acidic soil has a lot of edible plants in its category! This is because moderate-slight acidity provides the best growing conditions for a variety of plants that require a lot of nutrients. I plan on explaining that more in depth in a future blog post. For now though, this list should help with selecting plants for your garden based on your soil!

If you have any questions or comments, please send me a message! Also, if you are in the San Diego area and have some space for composting, I would love it if I could deliver my compost scraps to you.