Edible Plants

Edible plants are chosen for leaves, roots, stems, flowers, fruit, seeds, nuts, oils, or flavoring compounds.

Main Kinds

Kind	Examples	Harvested part
Leaf vegetables	Lettuce, spinach, kale, chard	Leaves
Fruiting vegetables	Tomato, pepper, eggplant, cucumber	Fruits used as vegetables
Roots and tubers	Carrot, potato, beet, radish, sweet potato	Roots, tubers, swollen stems
Herbs	Basil, parsley, mint, rosemary, coriander	Leaves, stems, flowers
Fruits	Citrus, apple, berry, grape, fig	Sweet or culinary fruit
Legumes	Beans, peas, lentils, peanuts	Seeds and pods
Grains and cereals	Rice, wheat, corn, oats, sorghum	Seeds
Nuts and oil crops	Almond, walnut, olive, sunflower	Nuts, seeds, oils

Planning Notes

Food plants usually need more light and nutrition than ornamental foliage plants. Most productive crops need full sun, steady watering, and timely harvest.