Growing red vegetables is a great way to brighten up your garden while also getting the extra nutritional benefits of these colorful vegetables.
Here are 12 beautiful red vegetables to plant in your garden.
Growing these vegetable plants from seed means that you can grow an abundance of bright red vegetables that you wouldn’t normally find in the grocery store.
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12 RED VEGETABLES FOR YOUR GARDEN
1. Swiss Chard
Chard
Both the leaves and the stalks are edible and the flavor is slightly bitter, similar to spinach.
The leaves can be eaten raw in salads and the stalks can be stir fried or used in soups.
2. Kale
Kale is available in many different varieties including some beautiful reddish purple varieties that look great in the garden.
Look for Red Russian Kale
Young, tender kale leaves are perfect for salads. You can also stir fry or steam kale leaves.
3. Radish
Radishes
They don’t take up much space in the garden so they’re ideal for planting in between other vegetable plants.
Radishes have a peppery taste and they can be sliced thinly and added to salads or roasted for a more mellow flavor.
4. Beets
Beets
They’re ready to harvest between 45 to 65 days after planting and the root and leaves are both edible.
You can pick a few tender beet leaves for salads as the plants are growing.
5. Cabbage
Red cabbages
Cabbages are cool season vegetables so it’s best to plant the seeds in late summer for a winter or spring harvest.
6. Tomatoes
Red tomatoes are one of the most popular vegetable garden plants but there are many different varieties that you can plant to make your garden more interesting.
Look for heirloom red tomatoes
RELATED: 12 Small Tomato Varieties
7. Red potatoes
There are many different varieties of red potatoes
Red potatoes can be planted in spring after the last frost of the season and they take between 70 to 120 days to mature.
8. Red onions
Red onions
They’re just as easy to grow as white or brown onions and you can tell when they’re ready to harvest because the tops will turn yellow and flop over.
9. Lettuce
Red lettuces look great in the garden and they’re ideal for brightening up your salads.
There are many different red lettuce varieties to choose from including red romaine
10. Peppers
Red bell peppers
They’re attractive garden plants and you can even grow them in containers if you’re short on garden space.
Sweet bell peppers grow best in areas with warm temperatures in a spot with full sun.
Wait until the peppers are bright red before harvesting to get the sweetest fruit.
11. Rhubarb
Rhubarb is an attractive vegetable plant with red stalks and green leaves.
The plants are frost tolerant and grow best in cool climates.
Rhubarb leaves are toxic so cut them off and put them in your compost bin.
The stalks are commonly used in dessert recipes like rhubarb pie or rhubarb crumble.
12. Radicchio
The last red vegetable plant on this list is radicchio, also known as an Italian chicory. [1]
It looks similar to red cabbage but it’s much more bitter in taste.
If you don’t mind bitterness you can eat it raw in salads or lightly saute it to reduce the bitter taste.
Radicchio grows best in a spot with full sun and it will tolerate light frosts.
So there are 12 gorgeous red vegetables to plant in your garden.
Growing some of these bright red vegetable plants will add color to your vegetable garden while also providing plenty of nutrients.
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- Radish Plant Growth Stages
Have you tried growing any of these red vegetable plants in your garden? Let me know in the comments below.
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This growing season I tried growing tomatoes. I did not have the best luck. But I did grow some red onion, and had the best luck with those! Great list. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
We love fresh veggies in our house, but I have never really thought about growing red vegetables. I may have to consider, as we love kale x
I adore kale, but I’ve never considered growing red kale before. That being said, I am SO on board with this idea! We didn’t get much of a garden going this year with everything going on. However, last year we grew tomatoes and red peppers. They really did add a fun pop of colour to our home garden. You’ve inspired me – I’m going to have to search out some red kale seeds for next year!
I wish I had a garden to plant all of these red vegetables! Red lettuce seems the most useful option for my plate.
We eat red potatoes in my house quite often, as they are perfect for roasting in the oven and are delicious. I don’t even know why the idea of growing my own hadn’t crossed my mind! Now I want to give it a try. I also didn’t realize that radishes had such a short turn around time between being planted and being ready to eat. I learn a ton every time I visit your blog.
Yesss!! I love all the colour. These are some great ideas for the garden next year! Unfortunately, even though it’s only fall we’ve had snow a few days already here in Canada. I really wish we could have garden all year round. It seems like the season just keeps getting shorter and shorter.