What We’re Planting: A Peek at Our 2026 Garden Plans

One of my favorite parts of each growing season is dreaming and planning what will fill our garden beds in the months ahead. Seed packets scattered across the table, rough garden sketches, and seedlings taking over every corner of our home have become one of the sweetest rhythms of spring.

This year we are growing a wide assortment of fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers – some dependable favorites we return to year after year and others we’re attempting for the very first time. In this post, I’m sharing all the varieties we plan to grow this season, along with some practical tips, gardening successes and a few experiments I’m especially excited about.

Pumpkins & Squash

Over the years, some of my favorite things to grow are pumpkins and squash. I find it is remarkable that a little seed can produce a larger-than-life plant with an astounding amount of fruit. Yet despite the incredible yields of produce, we can always seem to find more fun ways to cook and bake with pumpkins and squash throughout the year. This season, we wanted to try our hand at growing some new varieties, as well as some tried and true favorites, including:

• Moranga – I’m also looking forward to both cooking and decorating with this new-to-us variety of pumpkin, known for its sweetness, pleasant texture, and stunning pinky orange exterior.

Onions

Last year was the first year we attempted to grow both white and red onions from seed and it was a huge success! The onions grew well and the varieties selected have held up in our cold storage over winter. And it’s been incredibly fun to enjoy our own home-grown onions in our cooking. So, when dreaming about this year’s garden, we knew we wanted to include a variety of onions in our plans. This year we are growing the following varieties:

• Red Wing – A red onion with dark red, glossy skins and excellent flavor.
• Patterson – A firm, white onion that stores exceptionally well through the winter.
• Conservor – In addition to the above tried and true onion varieties, we are also growing these dark, rosy skilled shallots known for their incredible flavor and great storage potential.

Roots

One of the easiest vegetables to grow in our climate are root vegetables and we love planting a variety of them wherever we can. These can also be direct sown as soon as the soil is workable, making them a go-to choice for spring gardening. This year the varieties we are hoping to plant are:

Greens

I love planting a wide variety of greens in the garden to use for all sorts of salads, smoothies and other dishes. We typically direct sow most of our greens as soon as the soil is workable, but do find that starting kale indoors under grow lights earlier in the season gives it a good head start. Here are all the greens we are looking forward to having in the garden this year:

• Magenta Sunset – Another variety of Swiss chard I am excited to grow is this one with deep green leaves and hot pink stems (yet another expression of my affinity for colorful veggies).
• Renegade – This spinach is a slower-growing variety, making it an excellent option for being able to enjoy long into the growing season.
• Astro – Arugula is one of my favorite greens to harvest for salads, sandwiches, and pizza of all kinds and this variety does not disappoint. With a mild, nutty and peppery flavor, it is perfect for harvesting as microgreens, baby greens, and at full maturity.

Tomatoes

There is truly nothing better than snacking on deliciously sweet tomatoes fresh from the garden. This year we have big dreams for our tomatoes and our hope is to be able to enjoy them both fresh in the summer months as well as canned throughout the winter. Think: all things tomato (salsa, ketchup, BBQ sauce, tomato paste, tomato sauce, etc.), but made from scratch. With that, we are planting a number of varieties, including:

• Sweet Million – Easy-to-grow, deliciously sweet, vining cherry tomatoes that are hard to resist snacking on.
• Manitoba – A determinate variety perfect for slicing or preserving, that grows well in cooler climates with shorter seasons.
• Supremo – A Roma tomato variety, packed with flavor perfect for sauce-making or canning.
• Toma Verde – These hardy tomatillos are great for an array of Mexican-inspired sauces, salsas, soups and dips.

Herbs

One of my all-time favorite things to grow in the garden are herbs. There is something so special about going out to the garden while making dinner, snipping off some fresh sprigs and incorporating them into dishes of every kind. We also dried herbs for the first time last year to use over winter and are definitely looking forward to doing more of that again over the months to come. This year, we are growing a number of perennial as well as newly planted herbs, including:

• Cilantro & Parsley – We’ve not had much success with growing either cilantro or parsley, so we also plan to purchase some matured plants of both and transplant them into the garden, helping to kickstart the growing season.
• Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, Chives – These are all perennial herbs we have growing in our garden and they come back year after year. We harvest these herbs to use fresh throughout the summer months and then dry them to use in the winter.

Peppers

We are also planning to plant a variety of pepper plants in the garden this year. Now, to be honest, we’ve never had much success with growing peppers in the past, but this year we’ve focused more on providing our seedlings with the nutrients they need and they are thriving. My dreams of homemade salsa may in fact come to fruition with the following varieties:

• Twingo – These bell peppers produce large, abundant fruit that can either be enjoyed as green peppers or matured to a vibrant yellow.
• Jalapeno M – When green, these peppers can be enjoyed fresh, pickled or cooked in sauces. If ripened to red, the peppers can be dried and smoked, also known as chipotle peppers.
• Spicy Slice – This is another extra-large variety of jalapenos with great flavor and excellent spice.
• Pepperoncini – These peppers grow on compact plants and can be enjoyed both fresh and pickled. One of our all-time favorite uses for these is to chop up pickled pepperoncinis as a topping for homemade pizza.

Flowers

Another plant we’ve been enjoying growing from seed are flowers, some of which we direct sow in the summer and others we start indoors throughout the spring. In addition to adding color and beauty to our garden, many of the flowers we plant are both edible and act as excellent companions for many vegetables. The flowers we are planting this year are as follows:

• German Chamomile – These petite daisy-like flowers can be used fresh or dried for teas and many other medicinal purposes.
• Nasturtium – These flowers are a great companion for brassicas, cucumbers, melons, radishes and tomatoes. They are also edible and can be torn over salads or frozen in ice cubes to elevate any drink.
• Calendula – This variety can be planted with both tomatoes and asparagus, repelling a number of bad nematodes in the soil. Their long-stems also make them perfect for floral arrangements, while their edible pedals can add color to summer time meals.
• Marigold – These colorful and edible flowers grow great alongside a variety of plants, as they kill soil nematodes and repel whitefly. Be sure not to plant them near beans or cabbage, as they can stunt growth and lead to smaller yields.

Other Varieties

A few other miscellaneous varieties of fruits and vegetables we are planning to grow this year are:

As much as gardening is about growing food, I’ve found it is also about learning, experimenting and embracing each season as it comes. Every year brings new successes, new challenges and new varieties that quickly become favorites in both our garden and kitchen. I’m looking forward to seeing how this year’s garden unfolds in the months ahead.

If you’re planting a garden this year, I’d love to hear what you’re growing, any favorite varieties you return to year after year, or any new plants you’re excited to try this season. Feel free to share in the comments below!