"Homesteading- and community- care-scale garden” is how I describe the 3,000 square feet where I grow what’s probably too many plants for one person’s avocation. My interest in food started around 2007; I started farming in 2011. Now, I’m a hobby farmer in the truest sense. While I produce enough food and flowers to sell, I just grow it for my household, to trade and to share with my community. Working more than full-time, I don’t have a lot of extra time on my hands, yet growing food is important to my physical and mental health.
I’ve tried growing a lot of crops in and around central Kentucky, and after all this time, I think I’ve sorted out what really works for me. Here, I’m sharing with you my top 25 crops for 2025: my must-grow fruits, vegetables and herbs. This is not a “sexiest crops of 2025” list. This list is more about reliability than it is about trends.
Note that I grow in an area that typically sees six frost-free months in zone 6b. Not every variety I love is commercially available, but I’m including these to demonstrate why I’ve chosen that variety.
I also realize not everyone enjoys winter squash as much as I do, which is to say not every crop I list here will work in your garden or with your palate. But from this list, you may find the inspiration you need to get your 2025 garden off to a good start.
For the Bees
Borage is a great medicinal herb. The blue flowers make yummy cucumber-flavored additions to salads, and bumblebees flock to the blooms. Borage can grow quite tall, and it'll reseed next season. I appreciate that borage can withstand some frost, keeping color in the garden a little longer.
CARMEN PEPPERS
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