Our friend Ben was fascinated to receive an e-mail from the Park Seed Co. (www.parkseed.com) titled “Top 10 Seeds for New Gardeners.” What an interesting idea! Our friend Ben thought some of Park’s choices were inspired, some less so. But they certainly inspired me to start thinking of a “Top 10″ list of my own. If I were recommending seeds to new gardeners, I’d choose ones that would grow well when direct-seeded in a garden bed, as opposed to seeds that had to be started indoors and then transplanted. And of course I’d cheat a little. So here’s my list. What’s yours?

1. Arugula. Fabulous, easy, foolproof from seed. Sow it right in the garden and get ready for a delicious harvest! Let a few plants go to seed and you’ll have arugula again in the fall and next year, too.

2. Mixed lettuces. There are so many mesclun and mixed lettuce seed packs on the market that you can take your pick. Sow them and stand back! Take your pick from the many, many selections, and harvest young for baby greens, or thin those babies (adding thinnings to your salads) and let some of them mature for future salads. Some lettuce mixes are blended for color and flavor, others for cold or hot weather. (Lettuce is naturally a cool-season crop, so if you’re planting it for summer eating or live in a hot-weather climate, be sure you choose a heat-tolerant mix.)

3. Radishes. Our friend Ben suggests starting with ‘French Breakfast’ radishes, but ‘Easter Egg II’ or any other radish is fine, too. Radishes are easy and early from seed, freeing the space for a later crop.

You can read the rest of the list here:

http://ourfriendben.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/ben-picks-ten-top-seeds-for-new-gardeners/