If you are in self isolation or spending time at home at the moment and are eager to get some fast growing veges on your table, a productive vegetable garden has the potential to be of great benefit in the months to come. Getting out into the sunshine, a bit of physical exercise and purpose, peace of mind in the knowledge you are avoiding the crowds in the supermarket are just some of the highlights. Not including eating your delicious home grown food in only 3-8 weeks time!
Our top picks for quick growth
1. Radish. The humble radish is super easy to grow and make a great addition to salads. Ready in around 3-8 weeks.
2. Baby Carrots. The finger or baby varieties are tasty and fun to grow, with these varieties being ready within 5-6 weeks.
3. Cucumbers. Delicious and crispy, cucumbers can be pickled, chopped into salad or sliced into sticks to eat with a dip. Generally taking around 7-8 weeks to harvest, it is best to plant in a spot where they can sprawl out or install a trellis to give them support.
4. Baby Beetroot. Beetroot is one of those two for one vegetables. The greens can be used in salads while the beet can be pickled, roasted or grated into a salad. Baby beets can be harvested at around the 7 week mark while the greens can be picked from 4 weeks.
5. Turnips. Turnips are another vegetable where you can harvest the green shoots, though you may need to boil them to take away some of the bitterness. The bulb can be harvested at around 8 weeks.
6. Beans. Dwarf or bush beans are quick growing, generally ready to harvest in 5-8 weeks. Beans can be roasted, added to stir-fry, in salads or eaten raw for a garden snack.
7. Spinach or Silver Beet. Spinach can be a great way to add greens to a meal. Tossed in salad, stirred through a pasta dish, wilted and sautéed in butter, added to quiche or in an omelette, there are numerous ways to use spinach when cooking. Ready to start continuous picking in 4-8 weeks from planting.
8. Aragula or Rocket. With a peppery like flavor, Rocket can be used in a pesto or in its most common form, the base ingredient in a tasty salad. Ready to harvest in 4-8 weeks, Rocket is a great example of a pick and pick again vegetable.
9. Bok Choy. A stir-fry staple, Bok Choy is very quick growing and ready around 4-5 weeks from planting.
10. Lettuce. There are lots of delicious varieties to choose from and pick and pick again types mean you can be harvesting leaves for many weeks. Harvest from around 4-8 weeks after planting.
11. Zucchini & Squash. Zucchini and little golden squash are easy to grow and are best harvested young for maximum flavor. Harvest can begin at around 5 weeks.
12. Broccoli. If you want to start harvesting early, you can you can cut off the shoots rather than leaving the heads to mature to full-size.
13. Snow Peas. Peas are great to grow as they make a delicious snack and snap-freeze well to store for later eating. Harvest from around 8 weeks.
14. Green Onions. The stalks of your green onions can be harvested from around 3-4 weeks. They are great as a garnish or incorporated into a stir-fry, soup or salads.
15. Kale. Kale is one of those pick as you need leafy greens that you can continually harvest as they grow. You could start picking at around 4 weeks and continue to harvest leaves as the plant matures.
16. Cress. A peppery flavoured green that is super easy to grow. Harvest as soon as the leaves are around 2 inches, which should be around 3 weeks.
Super Growth Pellets is the best all-round organic registered fertiliser for your vegetable garden, helping get plants off to a great start and keeping up essential nutrients needed to grow healthy crops full of flavour. Dig into the garden before planting or side-dress after 3-4 weeks and again at 10 weeks.
Neptune Seaweed is a plant health tonic that works to keep plants healthy and disease free by strengthening cell walls and stimulating root growth. Add to a watering can and spray over the growing seedlings every two weeks as they grow.