Having a home garden means you can save on groceries by growing fresh fruits and vegetables right in your own backyard. If you’re a little impatient, you can also plant fast-growing vegetables like cucumber and radish. These vegetables can be harvested within four weeks or so, and you can serve them to your family while waiting for your other crops to grow.

Planning your home garden

If you’re a newbie gardener, plan your garden first.

Do you have enough space?

Your home garden should have enough space so your vegetables can grow well. You can try vertical gardening if you only have enough space for a container garden.

Does your chosen area provide enough sunlight?

An ideal garden gets at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight. With enough sunlight you can grow dozens of plants. And if your property only gets partial sunlight, you can still grow veggies in your yard.

Fast-growing veggies for your home garden

When planning your garden and choosing what crops you’re going to plant, consider two important factors: the nutritional value of each vegetable and if your family will eat them.

Arugula

Arugula is a leafy green with a unique peppery flavor, making it a perfect choice if you like salads. It contains nutrients like beta-carotene, folate, magnesium and vitamins C and K.

Depending on your growing region, arugula can be a perennial plant, meaning you can harvest it every year.

Arugula usually produces mature leaves in two months. When you’re ready to make a salad, cut the leaves. Cut arugula as you need instead of cutting and storing in the fridge.

Beets

Beets are full of nutrients like folate, iron, manganese, potassium and vitamin C. If your kids don’t like beets, you could still get them to try the greens instead.

Note that beets like cold temperatures so you should plant them in spring or fall. You can plant beets two to three weeks before the final frost date.

You can harvest beets in 50 days, but the greens will be ready in 30 days, depending on the variety.

Bok choy

Bok choy is a type of Chinese cabbage and it’s great for stir-fries. It contains calcium, carbohydrates, fiber, folate and protein.

If you plant bok choy, you can have a mature harvest in 30 to 40 days.

There are two ways to start bok choy. Directly sow the seeds close to your final frost date or start the seeds indoors four to five weeks before that date.

Bok choy seeds germinate within four to eight weeks.

Bush beans

Bush beans take 50 to 60 days to harvest and you need to sow them directly into the garden. Soak seeds overnight to help them sprout sooner once planted.

Since bush beans are a warm-season plant, wait until the danger of frost passes before planting.

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are a vertical plant that grows quickly. Depending on the variety and size of the cucumber, you can harvest your crops 50 to 60 days after planting.

Fresh cucumbers contain fiber, magnesium, potassium and vitamins A, C and K.

Cucumbers are also a warm season plant so you need to plant the seeds directly into your garden after the final frost date passes. You can also start the seeds inside two weeks before planting.

Cucumbers are great as pickles, but you can also use them to make the following tasty dishes:

• Chopped cucumber, onion and tomato salad
• Cucumber and fruit-infused water
• Cucumber peanut salad
• Green smoothies
• Sesame cucumber noodles
• Veggie rolls
• Watermelon salad with cucumber and feta cheese

Kale

Kale is a nutritious leafy green and it contains fiber, folate and with vitamins A, C, and K.

Since kale is a cool season crop you need to plant it at least two to three weeks before the final frost date. Harvest baby kale greens after 25 to 30 days. After 50 to 65 days, the leaves will mature fully.

Peas

Peas are rich in dietary fiber, folate and vitamins B1 and C. Fresh-grown peas are sweet and delicious and they can be harvested after 50 to 60 days, depending on the variety.

Peas grow vertically and you can grow them on arches. Since peas are frost hardy, you can grow them in a spring and fall garden. Plant them two to three weeks before the final frost date or count back for a fall garden.

When growing peas in a fall garden, they must mature by the first frost date of your region.

Radishes

Radishes are great for beginners because they’re one of the easiest plants to grow. They contain folate, potassium and vitamins B6 and K.

To grow radishes, sow seeds directly into the soil two to three weeks before the final frost date. Depending on the variety, radishes can be harvested after three to four weeks.

Try succession planting when growing radishes to extend your harvest. This means planting a row or two each week instead of all in one go. With succession planting you will harvest radishes for weeks.

Spinach

Spinach is a nutritious leafy green and it’s a great source of nutrients like folate, iron, magnesium, manganese and vitamins A, B12, C and K.

You need good quality garden soil to grow spinach so add plenty of compost to the soil. After you plant spinach, it will be ready within four to six weeks.

Spinach is frost-hardy and you can sow it in the garden two to three weeks before the final frost date.

Turnips

Turnips are a two-for-one crop because you can eat both the bulbs and the turnip greens. Turnips are full of dietary fiber and nutrients like calcium, iron, magnesium, protein and vitamins A and C.

Turnip greens will be ready for harvesting within 40 days, but the turnip bulbs need at least 60 days to mature.

When planting turnips, sow the seeds directly into the garden beds two to three weeks before the final frost date. To grow turnips as a fall crop, sow them in the late summer.

To get rid of the bitterness, boil turnip greens twice then, saute them with bacon and onions before serving.

Plan your home garden well so you can harvest your crops within four weeks.

Sources:

UrbanSurvivalSite.com

VerywellFit.com

Self.com