It’s a tough time. I’m in eastern Massachusetts, where we have many cases of new coronovirus and we know it’s going to get much worse. My husband and I are staying at home. There are empty store shelves here. Most people are staying at home.
I looked up what I can grow at home the fastest. It’s just the start of the spring growing season in New England. It’s a very mild spring and many cold hardy crops can go in now, but it will take a couple months to grow most full-size food crops.
The quickest fresh vegetable you can grow is sprouts. Bean sprouts, radish sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, … many options. These can be grown inside and are ready in 2-3 weeks. Next there are baby greens that you can start now, inside or outside with row cover, and they’ll be ready to eat in about 30 days. Lettuce, spinach, arugula, beet greens etc.
Here’s my list of how long it takes to grow the quickest spring vegetables.
| Sprouts |
| Radish, 2-5 days |
| Mung bean, 4-6 days |
| Alfalfa, 4-6 days |
| Baby greens |
| Arugula, 20 days |
| Lettuce, 21-30 days |
| Kale, 21 – 32 days |
| Tatsoi, 21 days |
| Swiss chard, 28 days |
| Beet, 32 days |
| Full size greens |
| Lettuce, 50 days |
| Arugula, 40 days |
| Bok choy, 45-50 days |
| Tatsoi, 45 days |
| Beet, 50 – 60 days |
| Spinach, 25-30 days |
| Kale, 50 – 60 days |
| Swiss chard, 55 days |
| Cool weather vegetables |
| Radish, 22 – 50 days |
| Carrots, 35 – 73 days |
| Beets, 50 – 60 days |
| Peas, 58 – 64 days |
| Fava beans, 75 days |
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Eureka, I had forgotten about a bag of sprout seeds I have shoved in the back of the fridge! I’m taking extra care with my seed sowing this year, as we might really need these plants. The mild winter in the mid Atlantic means I have some overwintering/ early sprouting greens, so now I am just hoping we do not get a late freeze obliterating it all. I’m planting peas and fava beans and more greens today. Good luck to everyone!
I started up some old sprout seeds too. I hope they aren’t too old to grow. I didn’t store them in the fridge. You are lucky to have overwintered greens in your garden. My winter tunnel didn’t work very well this year. I have a big crop of arugula in it that bolted that is too bitter to eat, but the chickens love it. I do have some nice but small spinach that should take off and make a nice crop soon. And I have a kale or two left outside of the tunnel, but they are really soft this year. I think because we had almost no snow cover to protect them. Charley loves them anyway. He eats them stems and all. It’s a good idea to get the peas and fava beans in now. I’ll do that too.
I was just thinking the same thing, what can I grow quickly in the garden. Thanks for sharing!
I planted some microgreens so we’d have a little bit of fresh produce.
Dana, I’d love to hear about how you planted your micro greens. I’ve never done this and would like to try.
My sprouts are almost ready. I’m looking forward to trying them.