According to the National Garden Bureau, tomatoes are the
best crop to plant in
the home vegetable garden because they produce the most for the gardener's
effort in relation to the space required. The space-efficient tomato plant
produces $2 per square foot or $12 a vine when staked, based on current market
prices. Following are the runners up in order of their ranking:
2. leaf lettuce
3. summer squash (zucchini, scallop and yellow squash)
4. peas
5. beans
6. beets
7. carrots
8. cucumbers
9. pole beans
The lowest ranked vegetables were the space hogs: corn, winter squash, melons
and watermelons, with pumpkins receiving the lowest rating of all.