Seed to Harvest in 30 Days or Less

If you want to grow something in your garden that'll be ready to harvest very soon, then I am here for you. I have five plants that you can plant directly outside in the garden and harvest in less than 30 days.

Now before we get to the list, let me tell you some parameters. The first is these plants all grow in the cool season (when the average high temps range from 35°F to 64°F and there's still a chance of frost at night). So don't try to plant these in the middle of summer because you won't get a harvest and then you'll be mad at me. The great thing is most of us can grow cool season plants in both the spring and the fall.

The second parameter is these are all leafy greens and root crops. You won't find any fruiting plants in lists of fast-growing plants. And that's because plants have a specific order of progression from baby plants to adult plants. Baby plants grow lots of leaves. As they become teenagers, they start to grow really thick roots. They don't even think about fruit and seeds until they're adults. So it just makes sense that 30-day varieties will be mostly things we're harvesting for their leaves, right? That's what comes first.

So again, you won't find any tomatoes or peppers or fruiting things on this list. You've got to stick around for more like 90 days if you want fruit.

Alright, without further ado, let's get into the plants.

You Can Harvest This Low-Maintenance Leaf in Just 25 to 30 Days

I'm starting with a really easy plant that allows you to stretch your growing seasons. It grows when it's hot. It can hang on when there's frost. It's resilient, and it's number one on this list, so you know it's super fast. I can't think of another seed I've planted that's ready to harvest sooner than this one. It's arugula. 

Arugula is my bae. I could harvest arugula year round from my garden when I lived in Houston, even when the temps were above 100°F. In Chicago, I could enjoy garden-fresh arugula from about February to December if I used garden covers. Here in Nashville, I can harvest almost 12 months a year.

There's really no reason any of us should buy arugula from the store. Plant arugula from seed and look forward to your first harvest in about 25 days. You can scatter the seeds over the soil or be more methodical and plant about nine arugula plants per square foot of garden space. You can take individual leaves or harvest the entire top of the plant, and it'll come back. You'll get at least two to three harvests from every single seed you plant this way.

Arugula is really the most generous leafy green. You're going to love growing it.

This Root Crop Is Ready to Harvest in Less Than 30 Days

This is our one root crop that we're going to grow in less than 30 days, and it's French breakfast radishes. I love this type of radish. It grows in about 28 days. There are faster radish varieties out there (De 18 Jours radishes, for instance, grow in just 18 days), but this has been the most reliable type for me. It's also the tastiest. 

I love to roast French breakfast radishes like potatoes, pickle them, slice them up and toss them into my salad bowl—there are so many different uses for these radishes. I'm telling you, if you've had trouble growing root crops, these are going to become your favorite.

You'll plant your radishes by seed. I typically give them about two fingers of space between each seed and plant in alternating rows. They're great to plant along the border of your garden or to fill in any empty spaces.

This Is a Fast-Growing Leafy Green You Typically Won't Find at the Grocery Store

The next up is mizuna. This is in the Brassica family, alongside our first two, arugula and radishes, so a little bit of a trend here. Mizuna is very similar to arugula. It has a little bit of a peppery bite, and you'll follow the same planting and harvesting instructions.

The biggest difference you'll notice is the shape of the leaves. Mizuna leaves look like little knives. They have these serrated edges that are so beautiful in a salad. They'll also add a bit more crunch. I like to harvest mizuna leaves very young. When they grow larger, it's best to sauté them if you don't love the pungent taste. These greens tolerate heat well.

If you want to add some color to your garden, look for purple and pink varieties. They're so beautiful!

Grow Your Own Green Smoothie in 30 Days

Next up is spinach. You can technically harvest spinach just 20 to 30 days after sowing seeds, but keep in mind these are going to be baby leaves. You will need to wait 45 to 60 days if you want really big spinach leaves for sautéing. So this is the only fast-growing veggie that I'm stretching my definition of fast just a bit. The others are guaranteed fast.

My favorite type of spinach to grow is Bloomsdale long standing spinach. Spinach seeds can go straight into the garden, about 9 plants per square foot. You'll harvest the outside leaves and let the plant continue growing from the center.

Harvest Your Own Spring Mix in Under 30 Days

I'm finishing up with my favorite: spring mix lettuce. Lettuce plants taught me how to garden over a decade ago. You've got to try a salad blend called Rocky Top from Baker Creek—it's so delicious! Once you've tasted these leaves, you'll never buy spring mix from the grocery store again.

These seeds sprout in less than a week, and you can certainly take your first harvest in less than a month. You'll follow the same overall planting rules for lettuce as you would for the other greens, though lettuce seeds are more oval-shaped compared to the little balls for arugula, mizuna, and spinach. That makes lettuce seeds a bit harder to spread, so do your best to spread them out evenly. That way, you can make sure each and every one of those seeds will become a full lettuce plant that you can harvest from at least two to three times before the plant becomes a little bitter.

This last one—just to reiterate—is a 100-percent-for-sure harvest within the first 30 days of planting. And what a delicious harvest it'll be!

Tips to Grow These Fast Veggies

Plant these five fast-growing veggies by seed into nice, nutrient-rich garden soil, preferably in a raised bed or larger container garden. Most of these plants have shallow root systems, which means they'd have a hard time breaking into native soil. Unless you have the most fantastic topsoil, these plants will all benefit from having a raised bed or container to grow in.

The great part is, you don't need a lot of space for these types of plants. They're all small—I mean, that's how they can be ready to harvest in just 30 days, right? We're not talking about plants that need a whole square foot to themselves. These are small plants with shallow roots and small leaves. Don't stress about creating some huge garden for them. They'll be happy to grow in a small space.

These 5 Fast-Growing Veggies Will Give You $100s in Harvests

There you have it. Arugula, French breakfast radishes, mizuna, Bloomsdale spinach, and spring mix lettuce—these are my five favorite plants to grow when I know I've got a short season ahead of me or whenever I need almost-instant gratification.

And the best part? You can harvest from them over and over again, with the exception of the radishes. You're not cut off after 30 days. No, you're just getting started. You'll still be harvesting 45 days, 60 days, maybe even 75 days after you planted those first leafy green seeds. It's amazing.

If you want to know the step by step to grow these plants, make sure to check out my book, Leaves, Roots, and Fruit. It teaches you my system for planting all these plants and getting a ton of harvests from them.

If you're in the cool season and you want to get more production out of your garden, I highly recommend adding those five plants to your space. You'll spend maybe $25 to buy all these seed packets, but you're going to get $500 in production, easy. I'm serious. You're about to be the new salad bar in your neighborhood. Everyone's coming to your house for salad, including me!