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10 Best Vegetables for Clay Soils

Published on May 25, 2020Last updated October 6, 2021 â™› By Melissa J. Will

This post contains affiliate links.
Read full disclosure statement here.

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Clay soil can be challenging in the garden but there are actually some vegetables that can tolerate—or even benefit from—these growing conditions. From broccoli to potatoes, your favourites might just be on the list.

Also see 50 Plants for Clay Soil | Flowering Perennials, Shrubs, and Trees.

Cauliflower and potatoes in the garden.

10 Best Vegetables for Clay Soils

Cauliflower, kale, potatoes growing in garden.

This list from the book High Value Veggies by Mel Bartholomew
is provided by Cool Springs Press.

Shallow-rooted vegetables can tolerate—and may even benefit from the stability of—heavy clays.

Other root crops, like daikon radishes and potatoes, help to break up a heavy clay soil.

Heavy clay soils are slow to warm, so planting early spring crops may not be possible.

This list comes from the book, High Value Veggies by Mel Bartholomew, author of the popular Square Foot Gardening series.

1Broccoli

Broccoli growing in garden.
  • Broccoli is moisture-loving plant so never let the soil entirely dry out.
  • If you are careful at harvest time to preserve as many leaves as possible, stems and small heads will grow that produce a second harvest.

Buy Broccoli seeds

2Brussels sprouts

Brussels sprouts growing in garden.
  • Get extra value from your Brussels sprouts harvest by cleaning and cooking the leaves as well as the sprouts.
  • Don’t worry about light frosts: they can enhance the flavor.

Buy Brussels sprouts seeds

3Cabbage (red and green)

Cabbage growing in garden.
  • Green cabbage is traditionally used for cole-slaw and soups.
  • Red Express is a highly recommended red variety known for its vitamin C and A content.

Buy Cabbage seeds

4Cabbage (Napa and savoy)

Savoy cabbage.
  • Napa cabbage also goes by the name Chinese cabbage.
  • Savoy is a cabbage with leaves somewhat similar to romaine lettuce.

Buy Cabbage seeds

5Cauliflower

Cauliflower growing in garden.
  • Cauliflower does best in nutrient-rich soil so be sure to add compost or another fertilizer like fish emulsion on a regular basis.

Buy Cauliflower seeds

6Kale

Kale growing in garden.
  • Kale is another cool weather vegetable that sweetens with a touch of frost.

Buy Kale seeds

7Bean (Bush or Pole)

Hands holding green beans from garden.
  • Pick beans when they are full-size and ripe but do not let them get so big that they look about to burst.
  • Harvest carefully to allow the plant to continue producing more beans.

Buy Bean seeds

8Pea

Green peas.
  • Snap and snow peas do best with trellis even if they say they are no-trellis varieties.
  • Pea pods can be harvested at any time: the whole thing is delicious.

Buy Pea seeds

9Potato

Potatoes
Potatoes
  • There are so many more types of potatoes than we will ever find in stores.
  • Start with certified, disease-free seed potatoes to give yours a good start.

Related: When to Harvest Potatoes and How to Store Them

10Daikon radish

Daikon radishes.
  • Daikon is a winter radish that takes approximately 70 days to mature.
  • Look for white, purple, red, and green varieties.

Buy Daikon radish seeds

The Heartbreaking (and Shovel-breaking) Challenge of Clay Soil

My first garden was one giant mound of clay. I’m not talking the clay-like soil that many gardeners have, but pure, ready-for-the-pottery-studio, dense, unforgiving, relentless, clay.

The problem was, when you’re starting out as a gardener, it’s very hard to know when the challenges are caused by your own lack of knowledge or the conditions themselves.

Related: 10 Vegetables to Grow in Sandy Soil

I spent the first few years assuming I was the problem rather than the unaccommodating evils of a pit of clay.

I tried everything short of frantic dances to entice the gods of soil quality, but, after splitting a few shovel handles in half just trying to dig holes, it gradually dawned on me that my clay situation was unsual.

My daughter making a pottery tea set from our garden soil was the final tipping point. Doh!

That’s when I finally installed raised beds which I now believe are the answer to just about any garden question. Okay, not really, but they sure provide a great work-around for soil problems.

In hindsight, I don’t want to think of how many years I wasted trying to change the nature of that soil. And don’t even suggest double-digging! No amount of double-digging, amendments, pleading, begging, or bartering is going to alter tonnes and tonnes of clay. It will always return and win.

If you can actually get a shovel in, you may have some hope. My garden rarely allowed such a luxury.

Today we live on a property that is pure sand. Not sandy, or sand-like, or sand-ish soil. Nope! Beach sand. Without the lakefront view. So sandy, in fact, that after 5 years of gardening here I am yet to find a worm or a stone in any of it.

And so the story continues.

If you have great gardening soil, consider it rare and lucky.

And there you go. If you’re going to plant in clay, pick the veggies that give you a fighting chance.

Resources

Empress of Dirt

Plants For Clay Soil

Plant that grow in clay soil including irises, hops, and hydrangea.

Save to your device and/or print it.

Get Free Plant List
High Value Veggies book cover.

Square Foot Gardening: High-Value Veggies
Homegrown Produce Ranked by Value
by Mel Bartholomew

See it at Amazon

High-Value Veggies is an easy-to-use reference book that will help you choose edibles that make the most financial and spatial sense for your space. Explore the thought processes and math behind growing vegetables and herbs in order to craft the best plan for you.

It doesn’t matter where you garden—in a community plot, in containers, in raised beds, or straw bales, or in a Square Foot Garden—deciding which edibles to plant is perhaps the biggest factor in whether or not your garden succeeds. While success means many things to many gardeners, there’s no getting around the issue of cost versus payback.

Get Organic Fertilizer on Amazon

Does it make sense to spend $5 and use up three feet of garden space to grow one cabbage when you can buy a beautiful one at the farmer’s market for $2?

The book, High-Value Veggies, evaluates 59 of the most common home garden vegetables to determine which edible crops give you the biggest bang for your buck.

If clay is your struggle, the veggies listed above may be suited to your growing conditions.

Garden Soil 101

Garden trowel, plant, and potting mix.

Soil | The upper layer of earth in which plants grow, a black or dark brown material typically consisting of a mixture of organic remains, clay, and rock particles.
Mulch | Placed on soil, organic mulch can protect soil, retain moisture, and gradually fertilize the garden.
Leaves | Finely chopped fall leaves make excellent mulch.
Leaf Mold | Decomposed fall leaves beneficial to soil structure.
Compost | Decomposed organic matter providing nutrients for the garden.
Potting Mix | Contains no soil: designed to optimize plant growth in pots.
Seed Starting Mix | A lightweight potting mix for sowing seeds in containers.
Soil pH | Knowing your level (which may vary) is informational, not a call to action. Most soils fall in the range of 5 to 8 and accommodate a wide range of plants.
Free Soil Calculator Tool | Estimate how much you need and what it will cost

Other Soil Types

  • 10 Best Vegetables For Drought Soils
  • 10 Best Vegetables For Sandy Soil

Related:

  • Should you use a home soil test kit or send the sample to a lab?
  • Super quick way to test your soil for sand, silt, and clay.

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt â™›

Cauliflower, kale, potatoes growing in garden.
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