Radishes (fastest crop from seed to table)

Radishes are the fastest vegetable crop, ready to harvest in as little as 21-30 days from sowing. This makes them the ideal confidence-builder for new gardeners and a perfect succession planting crop. Direct sow seeds 1/2 inch deep, 1 inch apart, thinning to 2 inches apart after germination. Plant in cool weather (spring or fall); radishes bolt and become woody and peppery in summer heat. Cherry Belle (22 days, classic red round), French Breakfast (25 days, elongated, mild), and Easter Egg (28 days, color mix) are reliable beginner varieties. Use radishes as row markers by interplanting them with slow-germinating crops like carrots; radishes emerge first, marking the row, and are harvested before the slow crop needs the space. Succession plant every 10-14 days for continuous harvest. Radishes are also excellent as a quick-growing cover crop between main plantings: they break up soil with their taproots, grow fast enough to suppress weeds, and can be turned into the soil as green manure if not harvested. Daikon radishes (60 days, large white roots) serve a different purpose: planted in fall, their deep taproots break compacted soil and decompose over winter, leaving channels for spring planting.