Ten Easy-Harvest Vegetables To Grow At Home
You’ve done the hard work of prepping your garden space, planting seeds, and nurturing your vegetable plants. Now it’s time to start bringing in the harvest. While many assume that this is the easiest step, gardeners often find harvest time to be overwhelming. Not only does everything seem to ripen at once, but it can take many days of tedious effort to bring everything in.
Here’s the good news. Some garden plants are easier to harvest than others. You may be able to pull out the plant at once, or they might be forgiving enough to let you go a week or longer between harvests.
If you want to reduce the chance of getting overwhelmed, then it’s best to commit to plants that are more manageable. Here’s a guide to ten garden vegetables that take almost no time to harvest and helpful hints for ensuring the entire process is painless.
Radish (Raphanus sativus) is a plant species that represents a food staple in many cultures around the world. The Radish has a wide range of variations, including variants that grow in the spring, summer and winter. The root is generally eaten raw and can be used in salads or as a garnish.
Common bean is one of the most widely produced cash crops in the world, with 23.6 million tons grown in 2016. China is the largest producer of the Common bean, accounting for 79% of the market share. While the Common bean is known as a staple food source, the leaves can be used to trap bedbugs and the beans are widely used in a type of fortune-telling called “favomancy”.
Field mustard (Brassica rapa) is a plant that is widely cultivated and produces oilseed. Canola oil is made from the Field mustard oilseed. Field mustard attracts white butterflies who gain nutrients from its flowers.
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a creeping vine native to South Asia. It has a long history of cultivation – mentions of its use are found in various ancient scripts, including the Bible, Epic of Gilgamesh and Pliny the Elder’s “Natural History“. Today, Cucumber is one of the most widely cultivated vegetable species in the world.
Kale (Brassica oleracea var. viridis) is an edible green in the cabbage family that’s cultivated as a vegetable. Kale is also called walking stick kale or collard greens. This species is pollinated by bees.
Onion (Allium cepa) is an onion species commonly known for its ubiquitous culinary applications. The Onion is toxic to a variety of animals. Aside from its many culinary uses, the Onion is often used to teach students how to use a microscope because its cells are very large and easy to visualize.
Bok choi (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis) is grown worldwide for its leaves, which are eaten in many East Asian cuisines both raw and cooked. It has the most cold-resistant of the Brassica species, making it a popular vegetable to grow in colder regions. The Bok choi plant is a hermaphrodite and is pollinated by bees.
Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is a nutritious, edible vegetable that contains folate, vitamins, and antioxidants. Okra is native to Ethiopia, but now grows commonly throughout the world. Okra is commonly prepared by frying, stewing, roasting, and grilling.
Lepidium sativum is a fast-growing, edible herb that’s referred to as the Garden cress, distinguishing it from similar plants that are also called cress. It’s genetically related to mustard and watercress, and it shares their peppery, tangy flavor. It’s commercially grown in Europe.
Carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) is the domestic version of its wild relative. This ubiquitous vegetable is closely related to parsley, fennel, and dill. The orange root can be eaten cooked or raw. The Carrot is self-fertile and is pollinated by flies and beetles, who use its flowers as a food source.