12 Veggies you can grow and eat in 4-8 weeks (or less)!
By Elizabeth Jones
Feb 20, 2021
In our fast-paced society, it can be hard to wait for garden fruits and vegetables to grow and mature. Here are 12 veggies that are as “fast food” as the garden can get. You can find all of them in the Jefferson Seed Catalog!
Turnips
are a great quick vegetable! When February arrives and I can’t wait to start planting, this is a great veggie to start off the season. They are ready to harvest in 6 to 8 weeks. The leaves even make tasty additions to salads. Spring turnips tend to be sweeter than fall turnips, but both are delicious in soups and stews. Or roast them with other vegetables with a little salt and olive oil for a healthful side dish! If you simply can’t wait, they are even good raw!
Lettuces
you can harvest in around 45 days. Just sprinkle the seeds on the ground and gently press down. (Lettuce needs light to germinate, so if you cover it with soil, make sure is a very light layer.) Cut and come again are some of my favorites. You can start harvesting once the leaves are around 4 inches long. Just take a few of the outer leaves and they will keep producing more until it gets too hot. Buttercrunch, looseleaf reds, and mesclun are some of my favorites.
Beets
are another root vegetable that can be harvested in 7-8 weeks. Some varieties can be harvested in as little as 45 days! The greens can be eaten as long as they are used sparingly while the beet is growing. Many people pickle beets, but they are also tasty roasted with a drizzling of olive oil and salt!
Arugula
is a great way to add a little spice to your salad! It can be harvested in about 30-40 days. Arugula has a peppery flavor which I find to bring a little excitement to a boring salad. Young leaves (2-3 inches) will be milder in flavor. The more mature the leaves, the stronger the flavor.
Green onion
is a fun one to grow. It grows quickly and grows back quickly as you harvest. Some varieties can even be grown not just for the greens, but into full-sized onions! Most non-bulbing onions can be harvested in 65 days (Non-bulbing doesn’t grow into full-sized onions). The greens can be harvested as soon as they are the thickness of a pencil and grow back in a matter of days. Add the cut greens to salads, baked potatoes, or even pan-fry with green beans, asparagus, or zucchini!
Cilantro
I LOVE fresh cilantro. It can be grown and harvested in 45-70 days. I love it in salads, fresh homemade salsa, and as a sprinkling over any Mexican dish. It adds a wonderfully fresh, zippiness to salads, that leaves people wondering, “Hmmm, what is that?” And asking for more! I can easily grow cilantro inside during the hot summer months and have fresh cilantro for all my homemade salsa needs!!
Swiss Card
While Swiss chard is often associated with the south, it originally came from Sicily (University of Maryland Extension). In 45-60 days you can harvest colorful stocks of Swiss chard. Young leaves can be eaten in salads, while the more mature leaves are sautéed or served in soups. You can treat the rib-like asparagus and the leaves like spinach.
Radish
is another vegetable you can grow and harvest quickly. It can be ready to harvest in as little as 3 weeks! Radishes add a bit of color, crunch, and spice to any salad. I also love to eat them raw with a little salt sprinkled on them!! My Dad introduced me to that as a child and to this day just thinking about radishes sprinkled with salt makes my mouth water!
Kohlrabi
Known as the German turnip or German cabbage, Kohlrabi is popular in soups and salads. Once the bulb is tennis ball-sized (60-65 days after planting) it is ready for harvest. The bulb, stems, and leaves are all edible, but the peal can be bitter, so it is best to peel it. While alien-looking, it is a versatile veg that can be steamed, sautéed, or roasted. Thinly sliced, it is a great addition to salads. You can stuff them and use the leaves as you would kale. Kohlrabi is a fun addition to any garden!
Spinach
Growing up one of the first things we harvested was spinach. In just 35-45 days you can enjoy sweet, fresh spinach! It makes the best salads and adds a bunch of nutrition to fruit smoothies. I suppose you could cook it…if you must. But to me, it must be crisp and fresh. A nice bed of spinach topped with pimentos and a hard-boiled egg, with the right dressing, YUM!!
Carrots
come in more colors than just orange! The orange color was developed to pay tribute to William the Orange. Carrots work in any sized garden. You don’t always have to have a deep bed. Depending on the length of the carrot and the depth of the pot, you can grow them in containers, like baby carrot varieties. In just 60-80 days you can have the best-tasting carrots (in more colors than orange) for roasting, soups, and salads! My nieces and nephews turned up their noses at cooked carrots until I introduced them to a roasted version that is drizzled in a little honey. They actually asked for more!
Kale
is a garden favorite of mine. Some really hardy varieties can be harvested during the winter months of GA and can even survive 20 F night-time temps, without being covered! You can harvest 50-70 days after sowing. To get sweeter kale, let it experience a frost or freeze. This breaks down cell walls and allows sugars to develop. Kale is delicious in salads, soups, and roasted. Kale chips are my favorite. Just drizzle olive oil on it, sprinkle with salt and roast it until crispy!