Gardeners Corner

The 6 Fastest Growing Vegetables


When spring rolls in after a long weary winter, gardeners crave some immediate green. Many vegetables require the heat of summer or a long, leisurely growing season to ripen and reward us, but there are a handful that virtually pop out of the ground and are ready to harvest within weeks. Jump start your growing season with these 6 fast growing vegetables.

Bush Beans 

You'll have to wait until the soil warms a bit in late spring, but once your bean seeds are in the ground, stand back. Pole beans need time to climb and grow tall, but bush beans start setting flowers and pods within weeks of poking out of the ground. Succession plant for an even longer harvest and you'll have a steady supply of beans throughout the season. Days to harvest: 50-70.

Green Onions

Bulb onions take weeks to plump up, but you can start harvesting the greens within a month and the plants will continue to fill in and produce more. Or you can pull the whole plant to use as a scallion and succession plant more. Days to harvest: 20-30

Peas

Peas are the easiest plants to please, but if the spring weather will oblige us with some cool, rainy days, we can celebrate with snap, sugarpod or shelling peas in only about 50 days. As with beans, the shorter varieties start producing earliest, since they don't have to put all their energy into growing tall. Whatever variety you grow, you can get an even earlier treat by indulging in some pea shoots and tendrils. Days to harvest: 50-70

Radishes 

Radishes need to grow quickly, or they will turn hard or pithy. But give them the conditions that promote rapid growth, succession plant every other week and you'll be enjoying some tang with all those salad greens you're harvesting.  Days to harvest: 20-30.

Salad Greens

By salad greens, I mean lettuce and so much more. These are the perfect crops to start your season, since many of them can withstand a little frost as seedlings and if you plan on starting from seed, you can get started before your last frost date. Most are ready to pick within 2 months. If you are truly impatient (and I am) plant at least a few starts and/or grow a super quick maturing green, like arugula. You'll be harvesting baby greens within 3 weeks.  Days to harvest: 21-55.


Turnips

For a double-duty fast grower, sow some turnips seeds. While the bulbs are growing fat, we can harvest some of the leaves to eat fresh or toss in a side dish. We can even munch on the plants we thin out, to make space for the bulbs to fill out. And once again, you can succession plant for a continual supply of speedy plants. Days to harvest: 40 – 60

source: http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablepatch/ss/The-6-Fastest-Growing-Vegetables.htm