If it's still too cold to plant anything outside where you live, you have a balcony or you only have a balcony to grow your veggies and flowers, don't be discouraged. Most plants can actually be grown in containers on the balcony, you just have to provide them with proper growing conditions and care. The main thing is to choose a container, that is big enough for the plant so the plant has enough space for it's roots. So if you're already itching to grow something, try out these veggies! Most of them are cold weather crops and actually do better when i'ts colder.
1. Lettuce - easy to grow, grows fast and can be harvested repeatedly. You can also grow many different varieties depending on your need, like leaf lettuce, which refers to a lettuce that doesn't grow a head or head lettuce like Iceberg or Romaine. As lettuce is a cool weather crop, you only have to watch out for the weather. When it's too hot, your lettuce can bolt, which means it starts flower and goes to seed. The leaves won't taste good, however, you can harvest your own seeds like that if necessary. If you want a big lettuce harvest, succession planting(seeding crops with intervals of 7 to 21 days) is the way to go.
2. Kale - great for container gardening and also a great source of magnesium. I would suggest choosing dwarf varieties as some kale can get really big so the container also needs to be bigger. Good thing with kale is that you can start it early as it's quite cold tolerant and can even do better in the cold.
3. Swiss chard - has shallow roots, so it's perfect for container gardening. Just make sure you go for a bigger pot so your swiss chard doesn't fall over. You can eat both the leaves and stems of swiss chard. I usually like to fry the stems up a bit in some butter and use the leaves in salads.
4. Radish - one of the easiest and fastest vegetable to grow in containers on your balcony. With these, choose a container that is deep, because they are root crops. I also recommend succession planting these to get more radishes because you are growing them in a limited space, which means the harvest won't be as big. They also like to be watered more, so don't let them dry out.
5. Peas - another easy crop to grow. I usually like to grow them together with radishes as radishes grow down and peas up and they require similar levels of moisture. However, you can always grow them in a different container. I like to grow them in containers that are wide and you definitely have to provide them with support as they can grow quite long. When the weather gets warmer, I also like to mist them with more water as they seem to do better that way. Go for dwarf varieties as some can grow too tall for a balcony. You can grow snap peas, snow peas and even shelling peas on the balcony, and this is another crop I would suggest succession planting for a bigger harvest.
Honorable mention:
Carrot! Go for a small variety like "Paris Market" that produces small round carrots and use a deep container.
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