If you’re looking for crops that reward you for your efforts in a matter of weeks, then read on….
Maybe the thought of growing veg from seed has put you off in the past, dissuaded by the journey from plot to plate seeming too long and drawn out. Well think again, because there are lots of edibles that can be sown now that will be ready to eat in a matter of weeks.
The beauty of growing salad and veg that mature quickly is they don’t have to run the gauntlet of pest attacks for as long as slow croppers such as sprouting broccoli and cauliflowers do, and some can even be grown indoors. Starting crops inside now rather than direct in the soil will give you a head start, because the cold, wet start to spring means the soil has been slow to warm up.
So get sowing now and you could be tucking into the fruits of your labours in four to five weeks’ time!
Eight quick crops
Just one plant gives a succession of handfuls of fresh beans and they take up little room on the plot if grown close together. Seeds are large and easy to sow. Start them off indoors now, two seeds to a 5cm pot, and keep them at 20C. Harden them off and plant out in a sunny spot after the risk of frost has gone.
Time to harvest: 65 days after sowing
These roots add strong flavour and colour to salads and are hardy, so you can grow them in a cold greenhouse if there’s no room indoors. Sow seeds thinly in a 20–30cm pot of watered multi-purpose compost. Cover the seeds, keep the pot somewhere well lit and water the compost when dry.
Time to harvest: 30 days after sowing
Mangetout peas
Unlike podded peas, they keep cropping all through summer and are ready to harvest quicker, pods maturing a few days after flowering. Sow seeds in a length of guttering filled with multi-purpose compost or topsoil. Sow seeds 8cm apart along the guttering and keep in a greenhouse or polytunnel. Plant out when the young plants are 8–10cm tall and water well.
Time to harvest: 65 days after sowing
Salad leaf mixes
They can be grown in the smallest of spaces; all you need is a spare 20cm pot and some windowsill space. Alot of money can be saved on expensive supermarket salad leaves because the harvest is continual. Evenly sprinkle seed over the compost surface and cover with sieved compost. Water the pot from the bottom and keep it somewhere well lit. Water each time the compost dries out.
Time to harvest: 28 days after sowing
Mustard
One of the quickest-growing crops, ready to pick in a couple of weeks, it’s a great introduction to gardening and even more so for impatient children! And just a handful of shoots adds a nice kick to a salad. Sow the seeds thickly on the surface of a small 8cm pot of damp compost and cover with sieved com
