I suppose you've already considered all the fruit? Citrus, avocado, tropical fruits such as mango, etc.?
We can grow lots of herbs here...basil and such.

Yea, the basil grows great and attracts beneficial insects too!!! It is nice to throw a few basil leaves into salad or soup but we don't use much of our basil at all.

I like growing peas and beans unfortunately I find that most of the peas/beans that one might want to store dry are a bit difficult to do that way here. We had fairly good luck with the black garbanzo beans last spring. My favorites are the snow peas that like the cool months.

We have some banana and papaya growing but will only get fruit if we have a warm winter and do some protecting during the cold snaps.

We also have a couple citrus trees.

I do have some Moringa trees started but they are still too new for me to know how well they will do, very useful plant according to my reading though.

Still searching for quick and easy plants to add to my list.

Here is a link that might be useful: www.TCLynx.com

easiest things in my garden (aside from bananas and citrus)...

cowpeas from the beginning to end of the rainy season. sweet potatoes, what you said, but i think even the mature leaves are tasty (and i eat them raw!). greens from november to first of june. pole beans in the spring. CHARD all winter and spring. sungold tomatoes all year long... okinawan spinach all year long.

and eggplant!!!

Naomi

I haven't grown veggies in a long time, but when I did, I had great luck with the Florida Broadleaf Collards, any kind of southern peas, and eggplant. I had an eggplant that lived for three years!

Any kind of melon does well, since they are from Africa, and they absolutely love the heat. I learned from a gardening show that you should grow them on black plastic, to keep them from touching the ground, and also because they love the reflected heat.

I haven't grown okra, but it's kin to hibiscus, so it's supposed to be pretty easy. It's on my list for next summer.

Chaya is my favorite tropical vegetable to grow. Nothing eats it, it has beautiful flowers, and it tastes yummy.

I am very happy with my yard long beans. I planted after reading a Starnes article in the St Pete Times about hot weather veggies.

The vines are all over half of a gazebo frame and we have harvested twice. The first batch was delish. I stir fried them all by themselves with just a sheen of oil in the pan. Wanted to taste them and only them. Very good. I see no pests on the vines.

Still picking those Marconi bullhorn peppers. They have slowed but are still setting fruit. I bought one plant from HD and must have gotten 30 large peppers.

Because of other Starnes' articles, I have recently tried Name', a potato like root. It was wonderful boiled and the chunks served w/ butter and salt. Going to plant some bonita for the roots and leaves. Also just purchased nopale' cactus paddles from my local IGA frequented by the Hispanic population. It was a nearly thornless variety.

The paddles, eaten plain w/ salt were OK. A little sour tasting and green tasting. I liked it better in a cheese omelet with jalapenos and onions. Very interesting texture when lightly cooked.

Many people take one bite of something and say, "I don't like it..." I think that we need to try something a few times before we give up on it. Give ourselves a chance to develop a taste for something... I mean...What gringo EVER liked cilantro the first time they tasted it?... Lol..

Easy veggies for the summer for me are zipper cream (a cowpea variety)and yardlong beans. They come in 2 colors, green or purple. There are lots of easy veggies to grow starting this fall. Collards do top the list. As for pole beans, check out Rattlesnake beans. They are open pollenated so after your first initial purchase of seeds, you can let some pods go to seed for your renewable supply. SH Shumway's and Vermont Bean companies are the only sources I have found. My initial seeds came from a friend so once I tasted them I had to have more. Their flavor is excellent.

Mmmmm,Rattlesnake beans are my all-time faves - bush beans can't hold a candle to the flavor = )

2 dead-easy things I never have to care for these days & growing year-round are wild or rustic arugula & garlic chives.

Most of my herbs are stalwarts as well: sweet bay, lemongrass, marjoram, thyme, sage, & rosemary - & apple mint is terrific in salads - I have the marjoram, sage & thyme in clay pots - they falter in the ground IME.

& my Aji Dulce chiles in a very large plastic nursery pot have lasted for 2 years now - Egyptian onions even longer - tho they never topset, for some reason, just keep dividing.

Asian mustards like tatsoi & pak choi seem to do quite well & are very nice in salads.

Just did my online seed orders last night - I'm getting psyched!

Oh - & I almost forgot - I harvested a small golden pineapple a few weeks ago - grown in a pot from the top of a store-bought fruit - so delicious & the top is now rooting on my kitchen windowsill = )

I second the lemon grass! I also had good luck with the 'vidalia' sets of onions from the box store... Totally pest free!

This season is the first I'm trying southern peas. We have some crowder peas growing and they seem to be doing pretty well so far.

Onions did pretty well but we need to remember to harvest before the weather gets too warm.

The only melons I've had do well so far were volunteers from seeds in the worm castings. We had one plant give us lots of really nice sweet melons this past June.

Ants are the main problem I've had with okra. Some sticky substance around the stem and making sure there are no other paths up to the plant will keep the ants off.

Here is a link that might be useful: www.TCLynx.com

oh... and, maybe easiest of all: take the root end of scallions, with maybe half an inch of the white. stick it in some fairly rich soil, sunny spot. water. wait. you'll never buy another scallion again. hot weather, cool weather, wet, dry. always scallions in my garden. over time, they multiply.

I had good success with broccoli. As inexperienced as I was a year ago, I just put seeds (pre-moisted) into the ground. They were tiny, so I put too many in some spots. They sprouted like crazy! So I thought, what the heck, instead of just thinning and throwing away, I'll thin and replant. It did work! I had broccoli all the way for like 3 or 4 months, non stop. Even saved some seeds, but not going to use them because these were hybrid, from Burgess. But I have to say, my broccoli heads were never as huge as in Publix. They had to be harvested smaller, before they set flowers.

I agree with ill-man . He turned me on to planting the bottoms of green onions from the store . He is correct . To harvest them , I cut off the green shoots and will continue to have them for along time to come as they grow . And SO delectable ! Yumm - yumm !
Best tip ever - thanks ill !

Are bananas really easy in 9a? That's encouraging. I planted some good size plants last march, can't wait to see how much they've grown (or been frost-killed).......

pnbrown~ Certain varieties grow better in Central Florida (9a) than others. The ones that are more cold hardy do grow very well here. There are varieties that only loose their leaves in a freeze and the trunks are untouched. Those are the ones that I have.

Christine

If I recall correctly they are "dwarf orinico", which I think is supposed to be a kind of generally hardy type. So we'll see. My idea that there will be fabulous bunches of bananas hanging when we get there, perfectly ripe and being picked by fabulously-tanned and super-attractive jardeneiras is likely a little optimistic, though.......