If you love eating and preparing food using homegrown and natural vegetables and herbs, the second best place to get your favorite vegetables would be at a farmers market. The best place is definitely your garden. But, for you to be able to make the best of it, it’s wise that you start by planting fast growing vegetables that are easy to harvest. These include:
1) SPINACH:
The spinach crop is best known for its ability to grow and mature really fast (within 30-45 days). The best thing about the crop is that once mature, you can continue harvesting its leaves for a number of weeks. When harvesting, it’s best that you start by picking the larger leaves so that the smaller ones can continue to grow. Still, it’s worth noting that the smaller leaves are normally loaded with a lot of flavor.
The crop is best suited for cooler temperature environments and if not, you should plant them under a shade. Assuming that you have limited garden space, you can go ahead and plant them in containers as they don’t need a lot of space.
2) RADISH:
The most lovable thing about the radish is that it’s usually rich in flavor, grows very quickly (within 20-25 days), requires minimal gardening space hence can be grown in containers and has over 200 varieties that come in a wide range of sizes, shapes, flavors and colors.
Though most radish varieties thrive best under a full sun, others do well under the shade. The key to planting and harvesting healthy radishes is to plant them during fall and spring (in case you live in cooler climates) and in winter (if you live in warmer climates).
3) LETTUCE:
Lettuce is amongst the fastest growing vegetables as it can be harvested 30 days after it was sowed. Thus, if you intend to have fresh lettuce all year round, you can be sowing new seeds after every 30 days.
The crop thrives best in environments with cool temperatures (50-60 degrees). In case you live in an area that experiences higher temperatures, you can grow it under a shade. You can similarly grow lettuce in containers as it doesn’t need a lot of space.
4) PEAS:
If you consider yourself a huge fan of peas, it’s good to know that if you were to sow the seeds today, in 60 days time, you would be harvesting them. The one thing that you are bound to love the most about them is that they take minimal space. But, you ought to let them grow vertically on trellis. Being that there are different varieties of seeds in existence (the early, mid and late varieties), it’s a good idea to grow all of them at one time rather than sowing the early variety after every two weeks.
5) BUSH BEANS:
Bush beans are amazingly tasty and nutritious. Once planted, you can start harvesting them after 50 days. However, they tend to grow well in areas with warmer temperatures. Since most bush beans produce their beans within a two week period, it’s wise to sow new seeds after every two weeks so that you can be having a continuous harvest.
