Growing your harvest can be an incredibly rewarding activity and it doesn’t need to be a long drawn-out affair either. To get you started, here are some easy fast-growing sprouts, veggies and herbs you can grow in your garden, on your terrace or even your balcony.
1. Herbs
Create an aromatic herb garden to add flavour to your home grown vegetables. You can plant cilantro, oregano, chives, rosemary, sage, lemon balm, roman chamomile, thyme and mint once and continue to enjoy them for years!
2. Microgreens – 6-10 days
Superfast, easy-to-grow and ultra nutritious, microgreens are a great supplement to your diet that you can grow at any time of year. Start with sunflower, pea, radish, broccoli and cress microgreens. Find easy-to-follow instructions on how to grow each of these microgreens in this video.
3. Green onions and radishes – 21 days
Add flavour to your dishes with this spring and autumn crop. Green onions grow very fast and will regrow again and again after harvesting; cut at their base when the green shoots reach a height of 6 inches. Radish sprouts appear in just three or four days and you will enjoy a continuous harvest if you sow seeds every other week.
4. Leafy greens – 30 days
Leafy greens are essential to a healthy diet. They prefer cool weather, so sow seeds in early spring or autumn and grow in the shade. Green leaf and red leaf lettuce varieties are easy to cultivate and sowing seeds every other week will provide a continuous harvest. You can do the same for rocket, bok choy (Chinese cabbage) and spinach. For spinach and kale, you can also just pluck the outer leaves as these will continue to grow provided you leave the central bud intact.
5. Beetroots and turnips – 30-60 days
Beets and turnips also make a great spring and autumn crop. With edible bits above and below the soil, you can enjoy both the greens and the roots during the cultivation period. Start cutting greens after 30 days but take only one leaf per plant at a time so as not to inhibit the root growth. Bulbs can be pulled out after 55-60 days.
6. Zucchini and cucumbers – 40-50 days
Zucchini and cucumbers are from the same family and grow well together. They love warm weather and plenty of water. You’ll need ample space for this crop but if you have a garden, go for it! You can expect 2.5 to 4.5kg of fruit from a single plant in a single season. Once the zucchini plant begins to flower, you only need to wait four to eight days to start harvesting.
7. Bush beans – 40-55 days
Now for the protein! Bush beans are easy to grow, don't need poles to stay upright, take up little space, need little maintenance and are quick to produce beans. Grow snap beans (you eat the entire pod) or green shelling beans (you eat the beans green). Plant new seeds every two weeks during warm weather for staggered harvests. If you feel adventurous and want to store for the winter, grow some dry beans (you dry the beans then rehydrate before eating).
Well that’s got you started! You can also grow cherry tomatoes or eggplants in summer if you are willing to be more patient, as these take longer to mature and reap a harvest. But we think you probably will, because growing your own vegetables is so rewarding, it can become quite addictive!
Remember, no matter how little your available space, or how shady or sunny it is, there will surely be something you can grow. YouTube is a great resource for discovering how to make balcony gardens or vertical gardens. Here's a teaser on which veggies you can easily grow in a pot!
So which veggies will you try growing first?