Not all vegetables take from spring from fall to mature. If you’re getting a late start on your home garden or live in a region with a short growing season, fear not. There are many healthy, delicious vegetables that are quick to harvest.
Here are the 9 fastest growing vegetables to get your garden jump started…
1. Garden Cress – 14 Days Ready to harvest in as little as 2-weeks, water cress can be planted in early spring as soon as the soil can be worked. Also a garden space-saver, a small (1 or 2 feet square) patch of cress will supply you with an abundance of this tangy herb.
2. Radishes – 21 Days A cool season crop, spring radishes grow best in 50-65 degree F weather. Once sown, you’ll see leafy green shoots above the soil in just three or four days. Keep planting seeds every week or two for a constant harvest through spring and autumn.
3. Green-Onions – 21 Days Also called scallions, green-onions are quick-growing plants that can be cut back to their base again and again throughout the season. Once their green shoots reach a height of 6-inches, they are ready for the first round of harvesting.
4. Tatsoi – 25 Days A low-growing mustard green, tatsoi is a wonderful addition to salads and soups. Baby tatsoi leaves can be harvested when they reach 4-inches in length, or you can wait the full 40-days for tatsoi to mature to full size.
5. Lettuce – 30 Days Another cool-weather vegetable that prefers temperatures between 60-70 degree F, lettuce seeds should be sown in early spring and late-summer. Of the five types of lettuce – loose-leaf, cos, crisphead, butterhead, and stem. leaf lettuce varieties like green leaf and red leaf are among the easiest to cultivate and are more tolerant of hot weather. Planting new seeds every 14-days will provide a continuous harvest.
6. Spinach – 30 Days Able to survive in temperatures as low as 15 degree F, spinach is a cold hardy-vegetable that can be planted as soon as the ground-thaws. Pluck outer spinach leaves from the plant as it grows or re-sow seeds every 2-weeks for successive harvests. Don’t wait too long to gather spinach because its leaves will become bitter once the plant reaches maturity.
7. Arugula – 30 Days Since arugula seeds germinate well in cooler-soil, they can be planted as soon as the garden bed can be worked after the spring thaw. Sow seeds every two to three weeks for continuous-harvesting.
8. Kale – 30 Days A “cut-and-come-again” plant, kale’s young and tender leaves can be culled continually throughout the growing-season once the plant is about 2-inches tall. Avoid picking the central bud, since this keeps kale growing and productive.
And 9. Swiss-Chard – 45 Days A member of the beet family, Swiss-chard can be harvested throughout the season by cutting-off the outer leaves when they are about 3-inches long and are still young and tender. In addition to using the fresh-leaves in salads, you can cut Swiss-chard stems from the leaf and cook them like you would asparagus.
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