Planting season is just around the corner. Are you ready?

When choosing vegetables to plant in your garden, base your decision on the foods you like to cook and flavors you enjoy. Consider planting vegetables that you eat more frequently by making it a year-round garden. Rather than plant only those vegetables that you consume as they become ripe for salad, include onions and garlic, winter squashes, and root vegetables for winter soups, or be adventuresome and plant asparagus, arugula, scorzonera, or salsify. Many vegetables can be stored for the winter, canned, or put in the freezer.

Deciding which vegetables to grow can be overwhelming, with multiple varieties of onions, tomatoes, and an assortment of lettuce available to the home gardener. Not to worry, know there are no bad vegetables; whatever you plant will be delicious.

Tomatoes dominate my vegetable garden. I grow nearly a dozen varieties for eating off the vine, tossing in salad, roasting, for sauce, and especially for my green tomato apple chutney. I grow more tomatoes than my family can eat or give away just to have green tomatoes at the end of the season to make chutney. I like to choose from grape, plum, yellow, and several reds of various sizes and varieties. My favorites include the sweet yellow and orange or golden varieties. Grape tomatoes do not tend to split as cherry tomatoes sometimes do. I have had little luck with yellow pear tomatoes, which are delicious, as they also split. Plum or Roma tomatoes are a must in the garden for anyone who likes to make tomato sauce to store for pasta parties.

When deciding which tomatoes to grow, consider the difference between “indeterminate” and “determinate.” Your decision may be based on the confines of your available planting space and the type of tomatoes you like to eat. Determinate tomatoes, or “bush” tomatoes, are varieties that generally grow 3 to 4 feet tall and do not spread their limbs. They stop growing when fruit sets on the top bud. All the tomatoes from the plant ripen at approximately the same time (usually over period of one to two weeks). They require a limited amount of staking for support and are perfectly suited for container planting.

Indeterminate tomatoes will grow and produce fruit until killed by frost. They can reach heights of up to 12 feet, although 6 feet is normal (if staked appropriately). Indeterminates will bloom, set new fruit, and ripen fruit all at the same time throughout the season. They require substantial staking for support.

Having fresh herbs growing outside the kitchen door is essential for the serious cook. No garden is complete without the traditional herbs, including basil, parsley (flat and curly), rosemary, thyme, sage, and oregano. Herbs add flavor to all dishes, whether mixed in green salads, tossed with vegetables, blended into marinades, roasted with vegetables, or used to season meats and fish. Other interesting herbs to grow are tarragon, lovage (similar to celery), cilantro, and cumin. Cilantro plants allowed to go to seed will yield coriander. Herbs can be air-dried or frozen for use year-round.

When it comes to beans, there are many choices to consider: bush or pole, green, yellow, purple, or white. Each has a distinct flavor. Purple beans do not retain their color when cooked, so don’t be disappointed when you discover they are no longer purple. Bush beans such as long and slender French filet are tender enough to toss in salad raw.  Keep your eye on the beans; if you miss the opportunity to harvest one day, the next time you go to your garden, you will discover that they are giant and too tough to eat.

Some of the locations I visit for vegetable and herb seedlings include Bolton Orchards; Lancaster Garden Center at “Five Corners” on the way to Clinton (down the road from Bolton Orchards); Gary’s Farm on Route 119 in Littleton; and Applefield Farm in Stow, to name a few. There are many websites that provide information about vegetables. Gary Ibsen’s TomatoFest (www.tomatofest.com) features more than 600 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. Johnny’s Seeds (www.johnnyseeds.com) is a good source for seeds.

The fruits of your labors in the garden will not go unrewarded this growing season. Remember that whatever you bring to your table, the freshness from your garden will delight everyone.