If you ask my hubby what his favorite veggie is, he’ll say bacon. I’m a different story. I love vegetables, which is the main reason I grow a veggie garden. But like hubby, I have a difficult time answering that question. 

For me, however, it’s a matter of narrowing down the selection of my favorite veggies to find the top contender. As I think about my list of faves, I can’t help wondering what veggies other people enjoy. 

Gardener Favorites

I figured it would be something like green beans. After all, this seems to be one of the more popular vegetables offered in restaurants and at catered events. A quick search on the internet proved me wrong. 

A recent survey indicates that broccoli is the most popular vegetable in America, with carrots and corn coming in second and third. Much to my surprise, broccoli held an overwhelming majority of the votes. I can’t say I’m a big fan of this member of the cabbage family, but corn and carrots aren’t bad.

So I have to ask, does growing a veggie garden spoil us? Does having easy access to a number of flavorful veggies change our palates? Would a survey of the most popular vegetables yield different results for gardeners than for non-gardeners? I believe so. After all, I love vegetables. 

My Most Favorite

But when I narrow down my faves, English peas are the clear winner. I love to eat them as nature intended – straight from the pods. If you’ve never had raw peas, trust me. The juicy crispness and grassy flavor of fresh English peas gets lost when these veggies are cooked.  

Yet, taste might not be the only reason peas are my favorite veggies. It might have more to do with availability. In my area, the English pea harvest season is but a few short weeks in late spring. And rarely do I find this delectable veggie for sale on grocery shelves. 

Thus, I feel this might be a case of absence making the heart grow fonder. As I think about all my favorite veggies, I realize most of them have short harvest seasons. In other words, I pretty much crave what I can’t easily have. 

This alone is a very compelling reason to garden. Sure, as a gardener I claim to garden because it saves money or that it provides healthy and safe food for my family. But maybe, just maybe, I also have a hidden agenda. 

So, if you love vegetables as much as I love vegetables, take a look deep inside your soul. Is it possible that, like myself, you also grow a garden to fulfill a secret desire to have that one special veggie which tops your list of faves?