Fast Growing Vegetables You Can Harvest Quickly
Are you interested in growing your own food but don’t want to wait months to see the fruits of your labor?
Although growing tomatoes, pumpkins and watermelons is fun, these kinds of plants often take months of growing before you can start to harvest them.
But don’t worry, there are many fast-growing vegetable plants that you can harvest quickly. You might even be surprised at what all you can grow in such a short period of time.
What Vegetables Grow in 30 Days?
There are several fast-growing vegetable plants that you can start to harvest in as little as 30 days from the time that you sow seeds. Many of these fast-growing vegetable plants are also plants that can be grown in smaller containers, making them a double win if you want to grow vegetables fast but don’t have much space to grow them in.
Kale
This leafy green is full of nutrients and makes an excellent addition to salads. It’s also fast-growing.
In fact, some varieties of kale can be on your plate in as little as 25 days after you sow seeds!
Radishes
Radishes are an often forgotten about vegetable that you may not consider growing at first. Radishes in the past were often spicy and red. Today’s radishes can come in a wide variety of colors and they aren’t all spicy if that isn’t your thing.
In fact, watermelon radishes are colorful and slightly sweet, perfect for slicing and eating raw. Most radish varieties are quick to grow, but some can be ready to harvest 22 days after sowing seeds.
Baby Carrots
Carrots can take a few months to fully grow and mature into the large vegetables that you see in the grocery store. However, if you want to grow sweet and tender baby carrots, you can harvest them early.
Harvest carrots about 30 days after sowing seeds to get delicious and sweet carrots that are perfect for snacking. Even the pickiest kids love sweet baby carrots.
Microgreens
When it comes to growing vegetables, microgreens are almost instant satisfaction. Microgreens are the edible immature greens that are harvested less than a month after planting seeds.
Edible flowers, leafy greens, herbs, broccoli and cabbage are just a few of the plants that you can use to produce this ‘vegetable confetti’.
Depending on the type of plant that you grow, you can harvest microgreens with scissors in as little as 14 days.
Vegetables to Grow in Less than 60 Days
Although you can definitely grow vegetables in less than a month, the options of what you can grow will be more limited. If you still want to grow vegetables fast but you have a little more time, you can really open up the possibilities of what you can grow. These fast-growing vegetables will have food on your table in less than two months.
Lettuce
One of the first plants you’ll see listed on any fast-growing vegetable list is lettuce. Almost all varieties of lettuce will be ready to harvest in less than 60 days. Lettuce that makes a head, like iceberg, tend to take closer to 60 days to reach maturity. Leafy lettuce can be harvested sooner, closer to 30 days after sowing the seeds. To make planting lettuce easier, look for coated seeds. Lettuce seeds are tiny and can be hard to plant. Coated seeds are easier to see and handle.
Greens
Similar to lettuce, leafy greens are fast-growing plants. Arugula can be ready to harvest in less than 40 days. Spinach, mustard and collard greens can be ready to harvest in about 50 days. There are some hybrids that can even be harvested as quickly as 25 days after sowing the seeds! Most greens can be harvested a little at a time.
This allows you to not only harvest from your plant sooner, but to extend how long you can harvest from that plant. To harvest greens multiple times, simply remove a few leaves from the outer edges of the plant each time, leaving leaves in the center of the plant to provide the plant with nutrition.
Zucchini
Wait, you mean zucchini can be harvested in less than 60 days? Zucchini plants are some of the most commonly grown summer vegetable plants, and for good reason! This highly versatile vegetable can be grown in less than 60 days and will continue to produce zucchini all summer long. Most zucchini can be harvested less than 50 days after planting seeds. If you want some funky zucchini, yellow zucchini and the Eight Ball variety can be grown and harvested in 50 days or less also.
Beets
Beets are one of those vegetables that you either love or hate. But, why not try them out and see for yourself?
This fast-growing crop can be on your plate in as little as 50 days. You can also harvest some of the greens from beets and add them to salads.
If you want to eat beet greens, you can start plucking them from your beets 30 days after you plant seeds, just be sure not to cut all of the leaves off at one time so the beet can continue to grow.
Broccolini
You’ve likely seen broccolini in your local produce section or as a side dish at your favorite restaurant. Contrary to popular belief, this isn’t just ‘baby broccoli’. Broccolini is a hybrid of broccoli and Chinese broccoli.
Broccolini has thinner stems than broccoli, which are tender and sweet when cooked. Broccolini can be ready to harvest in as little as 50 days.
Cauliflower
Although not all cabbage can be grown in less than two months, there are many varieties that have been created to grow quickly and can be harvested in as little as 50 days.
If you’re interested in growing a replacement for the potatoes in your diet, cauliflower may be the perfect vegetable for you to grow. This low-carb vegetable is extremely versatile and can be riced, mashed or even used to make delicious pizza crust.
Eggplant
Eggplants are a classic summer vegetable that is easy to grow and puts food on your table fast. Eggplants can be either purplish-black or white, or a combination of both. It takes around 45-50 days for eggplants to start producing their shiny, delicious fruits. Once they start producing, they will continue producing eggplants all summer long. You can also find many container-friendly varieties that are perfect for growing a bumper crop of eggplants in a small space.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers are some of the easiest vegetables to grow. These fast-growing vines will produce loads of cucumbers. Most varieties will have cucumbers ready to harvest in 50-60 days. If you want crunch in your cucumber, look for pickling varieties.
If you like your cucumbers sweeter, slicing cucumbers are the best bet. The cucamelon is another fun variety of cucumbers that will be ready to eat in as little as 55 days. This cucumber is sweet and resembles a small watermelon.
Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi is a vegetable that often gets put on the back burner, but should really get more attention. The kohlrabi plant produces a bulb that grows above the ground.
It’s fast-growing and can be harvested in less than 50 days. Kohlrabi can cut up and eaten with dips or sauces, or shredded and added to slaws and salads.
Beans
Almost everyone enjoys beans and you can enjoy fresh beans right from your backyard. You may not think of beans as being a quickly growing vegetable, but most varieties can be harvested in less than 60 days. Pole beans grow on plants that vine out and will need support to grow up.
Bush beans don’t produce vines and can grow just as well in the ground or in a container. You can find beans in all sorts of varieties and colors, from yellow wax beans to purple beans.
Peas
Peas are another vegetable that most people enjoy. Whether you like sugar snap peas, snow peas, sweet peas or black-eyed peas, know that you can grow them quickly.
Most varieties of peas can be harvested in less than 60 days. Once you start harvesting peas, the plants will continue to produce all season long.
Fast-Growing Vegetable Plants
Growing vegetables doesn’t have to take an eternity. Many of the vegetables that you see in farmer’s markets in the summer can be grown quickly at home.
If you’re really crunched for time and want to see how green your thumb is, start with some simple, quick-growing vegetables like radishes or microgreens.
If you have a little bit more time and want to grow some really flavorful vegetables, try cucumbers or zucchini. The sooner you get those seeds in the ground, the sooner you’ll have delicious vegetables on your table!
