Top 5 Quickest Sow-to-Harvest Crops for Scotland

The fastest route from an empty bed to the plate is radish (as little as four weeks), baby-leaf spinach (a month), rocket (four to six weeks), loose-leaf lettuce (four to six weeks) and early turnips (six weeks). Some gardening problems are about the calendar, not skill: a bed empties in June and you have six weeks to fill it, or a wet April pushes everything back to July. By September the light is dropping away in Scotland, and a crop needing ten weeks may not finish. In that situation "easy" isn't the question, speed is, and these five are the quickest by the published weeks from sowing to a real harvest. A couple are fast but fussy once ready. "BoltingA plant switching early into flowering and seed production, usually triggered by stress, after which leaves, roots or bulbs turn bitter or unusable. Full page →" means a plant rushes to flower and set seed early, usually triggered by heat, drought or stress, after which leaves and roots stop developing normally; "hearting" lettuce forms a single solid head, unlike the loose-leaf types here.

1. Radishes: as little as 4 weeks

Salad radishes are the benchmark for fast, ready to eat in as little as four weeks from germinationA seed sprouting: breaking dormancy and putting out its first root and shoot, given the right warmth and moisture. Full definition →, though early spring sowings in cooler soil can take six to eight. Sow direct, 1cm deep and 2.5 to 5cm apart, with 15cm between rows, from spring to early summer and again in late summer. A March or early April sowing in Scotland is likelier to land at the six-to-eight-week end, since cold soil slows germination (see seed germination temperature in Scotland), while a May or June sowing into warmer soil is likelier to hit the faster figure.

Speed is a double-edged sword here. Left even a few days past the point where the root hits about 2.5cm across, radishes turn pithy, hot and inedible, and hot weather pushes them to bolt, when the root stops developing. Check the row every couple of days once it's close. Slugs go for soft new growth as it germinates, and flea beetle nibbles the leaves, though the damage is mostly cosmetic.

2. Spinach (baby leaf): as little as a month

You can pick baby spinach leaves in as little as a month after sowing and mature leaves in about two months. Sow direct, 2.5cm deep in rows 20cm apart, in mid to late spring or in late summer to early autumn, and thin to 7.5cm. Direct sowing is better, because moduleA tray divided into small individual cells, each sown with its own seed or seedling, so each plant grows undisturbed roots until it's ready to plant out. Full definition →-raised plants disturbed at transplanting are more prone to bolting. Baby leaf is a different harvest target from a mature plant: you cut young leaves, which is where most of the one-month figure comes from, and the cut-and-come-again method keeps it going.

Spinach likes fertile, moisture-retentive soil enriched with compost or manure, sun or partial shade, and afternoon shade in warm weather, with an ideal temperature of 15 to 20°C. It bolts hard in hot, dry weather, and once it flowers the leaves turn bitter and the plant is finished, so water consistently (lack of water leads to premature flowering) and choose bolt-resistant varieties such as 'Amazon' or 'Missouri'. Slugs target young seedlings: remove weeds that give them cover and avoid evening watering.

3. Rocket: 4 to 6 weeks

Rocket is ready to harvest about four to six weeks after sowing. Sow direct outdoors from April to early September, extending into autumn under clochesA small, portable clear cover placed over an individual plant or short row to trap warmth and keep off wind, rain and pests. Full definition → or fleeceA lightweight, breathable fabric laid or draped over plants to trap a little warmth and keep off frost, wind and some flying pests. Full definition →, or start indoors in February or March for an earlier crop. A cloche or fleece start is worth considering for an early April sowing, since cold soil slows germination (see the germination temperature page above). It is cut-and-come-again by design: take a few leaves from each plant along the row rather than pulling the plant, so the first harvest comes quickly and repeat pickings follow. Young leaves are milder.

Salad (annual) rocket bolts quickly in heat, which ends that sowing, so sow again every few weeks and shade it in summer. Wild rocket is perennial and keeps producing after flowering but is slower to establish, so it doesn't compete on speed. Keep the soil consistently moist. Flea beetle nibbles the leaves, but the damage is cosmetic, and slugs go for the seedlings.

4. Lettuce (loose-leaf): 4 to 6 weeks

Loose-leaf and cut-and-come-again lettuce is ready to pick in four to six weeks, against around 10 to 14 weeks for hearting types, so the variety you choose matters more than almost anything else here. Sow direct from late March to late July, 1cm deep in rows 30cm apart, and sow a short row every fortnight for continuous picking rather than one large sowing. You harvest individual leaves, so there is no waiting for a solid head.

Hot, dry weather triggers bolting and makes the leaves bitter, so keep plants well watered and lightly shaded in summer, choose bolt-resistant varieties, and don't delay picking. Slugs and snails are the routine risk, with young seedlings a favourite target, so check on damp evenings until plants are past their earliest stage.

5. Turnips (baby, early): 6 weeks

Early turnips can be ready in about six weeks, and maincrops in about ten. Sow direct, 1cm deep in rows 23 to 30cm apart, early varieties from March to June (or from February under cloches) and maincrops from July to mid-August. A cloche start suits an early Scottish sowing, since cold soil is what stands between you and the six-week figure. Harvest small: golf-ball size for eating raw and tennis-ball size for cooking, since larger roots can turn woody and bitter. The leaves are edible too, peppery when young and raw, and larger leaves up to 15cm can be cooked like spinach, so you can cut them as a cut-and-come-again crop while the roots are small.

Keep the soil consistently moist, since dry conditions give small, woody roots and trigger bolting, and hot, dry weather can reduce germination. The six-week figure applies only to early varieties pulled young. Leave them to the ten-week maincropThe main, usually latest-sown and longest-growing type of a crop, grown for bulk and storage rather than an early harvest. Full definition → root and the speed is gone. Turnips are a flea beetle target and also attract clubrootA soil-borne fungal disease of the brassica family that swells and distorts roots, and survives in soil for years. Full definition →, cabbage root fly and birds, so net or fleece over young seedlings where birds have been a problem, and keep brassicasThe cabbage family: cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, swede, turnip and more, sharing the same pests, diseases and rotation rules. Full definition → off ground with a clubroot history.

How the five compare

Spring onions are a common name on fast-crop lists, but onions take about two months to reach harvesting size, slower than every crop above, which decides whether there is time for a second sowing in a short gap. See the spring onions growing guide.

Keep it going with succession sowing

Every crop here benefits from sowing little and often: a short row of lettuce every fortnight, successive small turnip sowings, and repeat rocket sowings, to avoid a glut followed by a gap. One bed can then give a rolling harvest instead of one crop over in a week. See succession planting for beginners.

Fast isn't the same as forgiving

Radishes are the clearest example: done in under a month, but a few days past peak in warm weather they turn woody and hot. Spinach and lettuce bolt if the weather turns hot and dry and watering slips, and the leafy and root picks are all vulnerable to slugs as seedlings. Speed and low maintenance are different qualities. Growing conditions also vary within Scotland (see regional frost dates), and on a colder, later plot the slower end of each timeframe above is the safer planning assumption. For crops that survive a missed watering or a forgotten fortnight, see top 5 low-maintenance, beginner-proof crops.

Common questions

Sources