Spring has sprung! And it’s time to start planting your garden!

Early spring is a great time to start growing hardy vegetables like kale, spinach and collards. These veggies are able to withstand hard frost and, in fact, taste best when they mature in cool weather.

However, there are many more vegetables that are suitable for your spring garden! These include:

  • Spinach – depending on the weather, and the variety of spinach that you’ve planted, your spinach can begin to be harvested within three weeks of planting!
  • Swiss chard – while the Swiss chard leaves may take up to 50 days to reach their full size, some varieties of Swiss chard can be harvested as baby greens in as little as 25 days.
  • Peas – depending on the variety, peas may take from 50 to 65 days to mature
  • Brussel sprouts – Brussel sprouts may take anywhere from 90 to 120 days to mature.
  • Onions – from seed onions can take 3 to 5 months to mature. Planting onion ‘sets’ or small bulbs however, can shorten this maturity time to 4 to 6 weeks.
  • Cauliflower – cauliflower can be harvested 30 to 80 days after being planted.
  • Beets – on average, beets can be harvested within 50 to 70 days.
  • Carrots – carrots take approximately 2.5 months to mature.
  • Radishes – many varieties of radishes can be harvested in as little as 3 weeks.
  • Lettuce – while it may take approximately 55 to 75 days for the leaves to be fully grown depending on the variety), baby greens may be harvested in as little as 2 weeks.
  • Cabbage – for most green cabbage varieties, harvesting can occur approximately 70 days after planting.
  • Broccoli – broccoli may take anywhere from 45 to 60 days before it can be harvested.
  • Celery – some varieties of celery may be as little as 60 days to grow to maturity.
  • Potatoes – depending on the variety, potatoes may take 90 – 110 (or more) days to mature. Early varieties including ‘Irish Cobbler’, ‘Caribe’, ‘Red Norland’ and ‘King Harry’ mature in less than 90 days.

Full sized kale leaves can mature in 40 to 60 days, however baby kale leaves may be harvested in as little as 3 weeks. Both spinach and collard can be harvested approximately 4 to 6 weeks after being planted.

Please note: Lettuce and Swiss chard should to be covered if temperatures drop below freezing.

Image by twistedstringknits