Growing Vegetables for Baby Food: What to Plant and When

Growing vegetables for your baby is simpler than you think. You don't need a big garden. You don't need experience. You just need to plant the right things at the right time.

Why grow baby food?

Store-bought produce travels an average of 1,500 miles before reaching your plate. By the time it arrives, it's days old and has lost a meaningful amount of its nutritional value. Homegrown food goes from your garden to your baby's plate the same day, at peak nutrition.

You also control what goes on it. No pesticide residue questions. No wondering about the supply chain.

The best crops for baby food

Focus on soft, nutrient-dense vegetables that babies can eat in their first few months of solids:

• Zucchini - Ready in 45-55 days. Incredibly productive. One plant is enough.
• Green beans - Ready in 50 days. Perfect finger food shape for BLW.
• Butternut squash - Ready in 90-110 days. Stores for months after harvest.
• Sweet potato - Ready in 90-120 days. Needs warm weather. Start slips indoors.
• Broccoli - Ready in 60-80 days. Prefers cooler weather (spring or fall planting).
• Carrots - Ready in 70-80 days. Direct sow. Sweeter from the garden.
• Peas - Ready in 60 days. Cool-season crop. Great for the pincer grasp stage.
• Kale - Ready in 55-65 days. Cold-hardy. Steam and strip from the stem.

Timing your planting

The key is working backward from when your baby will be eating. If your baby turns 6 months in August, you want crops harvesting in August, September, and October. That means planting in April through June depending on the crop.

Every crop has a "days to maturity" number. Count backward from your target harvest month, and that's your planting window. Factor in your local frost date for frost-sensitive crops.

Container gardening works

No yard? Zucchini, green beans, carrots, and kale all grow well in containers on a balcony or patio. Use at least a 5-gallon pot with drainage holes and good potting mix.

Automate the timing

SowAndSpoon does this math for you. Enter your baby's birthday and we'll tell you exactly what to plant right now, with harvest reminders so you don't miss the window.