Growing cut and come again vegetables is a great way to produce food for your family all season long. While other vegetables are a one time harvest, cut and come again crops just keep coming! And if you’re like me, and have less than average patience to wait for new vegetables to grow, then check out this list of vegetables for your garden that will just keep producing! And hint, hint – many of these are perennials so you only have to plant them once!
22 Cut and Come Again Vegetables:
- Green Onions
- Swiss chard
- Kale
- Mustard Greens
- Arugula
- Garlic Chives
- Beet Greens
- Asparagus
- Artichokes
- Collard Greens
- Amaranth
- Romaine Lettuce
- Turnip Greens
- Indeterminate Tomatoes
- Beans
- Celery
- Brussel Sprout Greens
- Garden Crest
- Spinach
- Radicchio
- Bok Choy
- Carrot Greens
- Herbs
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What Are Cut & Come Again Vegetables?
Cut and come again vegetables are essentially plants that you can take multiple harvests from.
You cut them back, and just as the name implies, they keep on growing!
The root part of root crops, for example, are not cut and come again since after you pull them up, the vegetable is gone.
Most leafy greens, however, are cut and come again and can be enjoyed for the entire season.
The same is true with many perennial vegetables.
And, many of these vegetables are also fast-growing summer vegetables!
1) Green Onions
Green onions, also known as scallions and spring onions, are one of the easiest things to grow in my opinion!
As long as they have roots, you can plant them again – which makes it so easy to plant out the ones you buy at the grocery store!
They are tubular green plants with green shoots which emerge from the white portion of the plant.
This is known as the bulb, or as I like to call it, the onion part of the plant – you know, since it looks like a tiny little onion!
As long as the bulb is present, the green shoots of the green onions will continue to emerge.
They grow extremely fast and in days there will be tons of new growth!
So go ahead and snip the greens around 1 to 2 inches above the soil line and toss them straight into your salads!
They are also great in almost all stir fries and soups!
2) Swiss Chard
Swiss chard is another one of my absolute favorite cut and come again vegetables!
It’s another one that’s super easy to grow and also makes the list of drought tolerant vegetables! Which is super important to me since summers here in Florida can get hot fast!
It has a crunchy stalk and falls in the leafy green veggie category.
I also love how it looks in the garden since it’s stalks can be multi-colored – I always grow the varieties with red stalks!
They are great in salads, and you can even cook the stalks as a healthy side dish!
3) Kale
Kale is a great addition to your cut and come again garden and can be harvested at any stage of growth.
Baby kale makes for awesome salad greens and mature leaves are perfect for kale chips or green smoothies!
Plus it’s extremely hardy and grows with almost no attention!
Kale is one of the few vegetables in my garden that I don’t have to worry about and it just keeps producing. So if you’re looking for a lazy vegetable to grow, kale is a great choice.
4) Mustard Greens
I was turned on to mustard greens last season and they now have a permanent place in my garden!
Not only are they so pretty to look at (I grow Japanese Red Mustard), but they and a great kick to salads and side dishes.
If you’re into that spicy taste, let the leaves grow a little more before harvesting, or pick baby mustard greens for a slightly less tangy flavor!
Last season I didn’t thin the seedlings at all and we had mustard greens almost every day, with enough to save in the freezer for later – they produce heavily and the chickens love sharing with us!
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5) Arugula
I love arugula since it grows extremely fast – I was harvesting greens just 3 weeks after planting!
Arugula is a perfect cut and come again crop since the more you cut it back, the more it will produce.
In my kitchen it mostly gets used for salads, but it’s also made its way into scrambled eggs and stir fries from time to time!
Just remember to pick the mature leaves early since arugula tends to get very bitter as it grows.
Oh, and it’s nearly impossible to kill in my experience – in the Florida heat it wilts now and then, but pour some water over it and it comes right back to life!
6) Garlic Chives
Usually when you think of chives, you think of an onion flavored herb – similar to a scallion, but smaller.
But did you know you can actually grow garlic chives?
So in my mini urban garden where space is limited – I might not be able to plant out full heads of garlic – which take forever to grow.
But I can plant garlic chives, which regrow themselves after cutting!
7) Beet Greens
I learned to love beet greens after an unsuccessful attempt at growing beets my first time around.
Since the root didn’t quite develop, I just left the plants in my raised beds and kept harvesting beet greens until the season was over!
Of course, once you pull up your beets then your beet greens won’t come back.
But once the greens are six inches tall you can start harvesting them for salads and smoothies – just remember to leave some on the plant so that your root crops develop too!
8) Asparagus
Asparagus is on my to-grow list once we have more space on our urban farm.
That’s because in order to grow asparagus you have to dedicate a lot of space to them, and a lot of time – they need at least 3 seasons before you can actually take a harvest!
But after that, once they have grown about 6 inches, it’s time to snip the Asparagus at the soil line. The more you cut the Asparagus the more growth for new shoots is initiated, making it a great cut and come again vegetable!
Asparagus is rich in nutrients and I usually use them as a side with steaks! I wrap them in aluminum foil and lay them on the grill to steam, making a healthy but easy side dish!
9) Artichokes
Artichokes are considered invasive since they are grown from underground tubers which then spread underground roots. This can make them very difficult to eradicate.
But luckily for us, we love cut and come again vegetables!
Artichokes can actually be harvested 7 to 10 times per season and can be treated as a perennial for several years!
They are great when steamed with aioli on the side and will always be one of my favorite cut and come again crops!
10) Collard Greens
Collard greens are related to the kale and broccoli family and are a staple food in the South!
They are very versatile and you can use them raw in salads and sandwiches, or sauté them and use them in casseroles.
They continue to grow after you take a harvest, making them a very easy vegetable and even better to share with the chickens!
11) Amaranth
Amaranth is usually grown for its seeds, but the leaves are actually edible too!
Amaranth leaves can be harvested when they are small – the smaller the leaves, the milder taste and the more mature the leaves, the nuttier the taste.
The purple flowers of Amaranth are also used as garnish on dishes, making this crop a great addition to any garden!
I love decorating my dishes with the amaranth flowers and adding the leaves to my salad.
I like the nuttier taste so I prefer plucking them when they are a little more mature, and the flowers always impress dinner guests who have never even heard of this plant!
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12) Romaine Lettuce
Unlike heading lettuce varieties, romaine lettuce leaves are perfect for cutting back and regrowing themselves!
Which means that instead of a one time harvest, and letting the lettuce wilt in the fridge, you can enjoy lettuce all season without having to worry!
I never used to grow lettuce, but the kids requested a more “normal” salad green *sigh*
And so we added romaine lettuce to our garden.
Overall it has a mild flavor and is relatively easy to grow, so no complaints here!
13) Turnip Greens
Just like beets, turnips also produce very tasty green leaves above the soil until you harvest the root crop.
You can cut the leaves of a turnip when they are about four inches above the soil – just don’t cut out all leaves at once – the plant still needs them for photosynthesis!
Honestly, I like using the leaves of turnip greens as garnishment.
But I’ve also cooked a very flavorful green vegetable curry with turnip, beet, spinach and carrot greens all mixed in with a bit of red chilli powder and salt. Yummyy!
14) Indeterminate tomatoes
If you’ve been around the blog a bit, it’s no secret that I have a love affair with my tomato plants!
They were the very first thing I ever grew and I just never stopped!
For anyone who has never grown tomatoes, however, there are two different types – indeterminate and determinate – with hundreds (if not thousands) of varieties falling under those two categories!
Determinate tomatoes grow and produce all their flowers and fruit. Once the flowers stop, no more tomatoes.
Indeterminate tomatoes, however, will keep producing new flowers and fruit until you rip them up – or they get killed off by frost or disease.
That means that I can literally harvest tomatoes all year round here in Florida and they vines just keep growing!
Now, you don’t really “cut” off the tomatoes, but you can actually cut off limbs of the plants, and it will regrow itself!
Heck, you can even plant those cut off limbs and it will turn into a whole new plant – with more tomatoes!
If that’s not awesome then I don’t know what is!
15) Beans
Beans are another vegetable that just keep producing as you harvest – and if you have ever grown beans before, then you know that beans don’t wait for anyone!
Once you plant them, they will grow – and grow and grow and grow.
Give is about a month or two and you will have hundreds of bean pods – ready or not!
They will continue to produce more blooms and beans as long as you keep picking them, which makes for a super easy and productive addition to the garden!
Plus, beans take up very little space and freeze very easily – so preserving them is not even a question!
16) Celery
I’ll be the first to admit – celery is not on my list of favorite vegetables – but it is a great cut and come again vegetable!
Celery will regrow itself from scraps and grows quickly – so if you love celery you’re in luck!
I usually use it in soups or as garnish, but I’ve heard it makes a great stir fry addition also!
17) Brussel Sprout Greens
Brussel sprouts themselves are not cut and come again, although they do keep producing after harvesting.
But I’ve come to love growing brussel sprout leaves, which keep growing on the plant after you cut them – the plant just grows taller instead of replacing leaves in the same spot!
A few seasons ago I had so many of these leaves and nothing to do with them – or so I thought!
Besides feeding them to the chickens, you can steam them and use them to make “lettuce” wraps!
I’ve also made chips out of them a few times which is a great low calorie snack, even if it does taste very green!
Plus, as they grow, brussel sprout plants look like giant flowers and I absolutely love having them in the garden!
18) Endive
Endive is a member of the chicory family and has a mild flavor, which makes it great for salads!
But it can also be cooked and has amazing nutritional properties.
For example, it has cancer prevention properties and is high in fiber and potassium. Such a great addition to your cut and come again garden!
19) Spinach
Spinach is so nutrient-full and is very easy to grow!
But it does need cool temps – so here in Florida it can only be grown in winter.
However, when the temps do cool down I plant spinach right away and it’s ready to harvest in about six weeks.
I use spinach in salads as well as other side dishes – like potato and spinach curry!
It is delicious when paired with chicken, especially in casserole, or in an artichoke spinach dip!
You can use spinach in so many dishes and harvest it at any stage!
20) Radicchio
Radicchio has a variety of flavors. If roasted or grilled it tastes almost sweet and if eaten raw it has a spicy nutty flavor.
I love using it in Italian dishes and it always makes for an interesting conversation topic with dinner guests!
21) Bok Choy
Bok Choy is also known as Chinese cabbage. It thrives in the shade and has a mild spinachy taste.
I often use it in stir fries and other Asian dishes, but it’s really versatile and you can even make kimchi out of it!
Also, you can cut back the entire plant, leaving only a few inches off the ground, and it will regrow new leaves!
22) Herbs
Most, if not all herbs, are cut and come again!
Which makes them the perfect addition to your garden!
I grow parsley, basil, thyme, oregano, dill, and rosemary. And I use them in almost every dish I make!
Plus many herbs can be easily propagated so you can make your own plants for free! I even have an entire video on how to propagate herbs!
Cut and Come Again Vegetable Tips
You cannot expect everything to last forever. And even the most productive cut and come again crops will eventually get tired or slow down their production. You can try restoring their energies by doing some of the following:
- Fertilizing and top dressing with compost at the beginning of the season
- Only take what you need from the plant – especially with the tops of root vegetables which need some leaves in order to keep growing!
- Look for signs of disease or pests and take preventative measures to ensure they stay healthy!
- Cut off any parts of the plant that are showing signs of dying or disease
How many times can I harvest vegetables?
Vegetable plants such as beets, turnips, carrots and other varieties of root vegetables are one time harvest plants.
However, their leafy greens are edible and can be consumed while the root crop is growing!
Cut and come again vegetables often regrow themselves until you rip out the plant or until killed off by frost or disease.
Meaning that you can get unlimited harvests from them throughout the season!
Hopefully this article has given you some great ideas and helped you to decide on the best cut and come again vegetables for your garden! Planting these crops can be a great technique to grow more with less effort!
I hope this was super helpful! And for more gardening resources, get access to our free gardening resource library! It will help you fast track your garden and it only takes 5 seconds!
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