Just a little terminology tip, so you understand better about the kinds of plants you are growing and how they will grow from year to year. For most gardens, you’ll be dealing with either annuals or perennials.
Annuals: These are plants that just live one year, produce seed and die. Almost all typical garden vegetables fall into this category, like cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, lettuce, peppers or pumpkins. Some herbs are also annuals, such as basil or chamomile.
One quirk about some annuals, like chamomile for example, is that they reseed themselves so readily that they seem to come up every year like a perennial. In most vegetable cases, you’ll be harvesting seeds or fruit, so this kind of self-seeding doesn’t happen.
Perennials: Now these are the plants that stay living over the winter, even though their above-ground portions die back, and then naturally re-sprout come spring. Chives, sage and lavender are common herbal perennials. You won’t find too many vegetables that are, though. Asparagus and rhubarb are two that will come up again and again for you. Fruits are usually perennials, so strawberries, blueberries and raspberries fall into this category.
Though the idea of plants that don’t need replanting each spring is appealing, there is a wee downside to perennials. As each plant continues to grow, year after year, it gets larger. Eventually, it will outgrow its allotted space and require pruning, splitting or other kinds of maintenance.
Biennial: We don’t hear about biennial plants all that often, though it’s not as rare as you might think. These are plants that will grow for 2 years before flowering and dying. We usually harvest these vegetables after their first year, so the second year doesn’t matter that much, unless you are planning on saving seeds. Carrots, cauliflower, turnip, chard and Brussels sprouts are biennials, though most people don’t even realize it.