10 great fast-growing veggies
Once planted, these veggies are ready to eat in weeks – say hello to fast food that’s good for you.
Radish – Great in salads as well as in soups, stews and roasts, most varieties of radishes will be ready for harvest just four weeks after planting.
Spinach – Popeye’s food of choice is ready in as little as four weeks after planting.
Lettuce – Leaf lettuces such as Romaine can be eaten about a month after planting. Harvest the outer leaves and let the centre of the plant continue growing.
Baby carrots – These crunchy bite-sized orange bits of goodness are quick to mature. They can be harvested after 30 days whereas other varieties can take between 50 and 80 days.
Kale – This superfood is a super-fast grower too. Ready to eat in five weeks, however, the baby leaves can be picked as early as 25 days.
Rocket – Grow these from seed and start harvesting in a month. The best-tasting leaves are the young ones so sow more seeds every four weeks for a constant supply of delicious salad leaves.
Turnip – The roots, which are great for stews or roasting, are ready to harvest in eight weeks. However, the edible leaves can be eaten in only 40 days.
Dwarf or French beans – These non-climbing bean varieties are easy to grow and picking the young beans regularly encourages the plant to produce more. Expect crops in eight to 10 weeks.
Sprouts – You don’t even need a garden for these! Sprout seeds of alfalfa in a jar and they’ll crop in just five to seven days.
Peas – Snow peas in particular are a fast crop. They take 10 days to germinate and are crop in eight to 10 weeks.
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