8 Early Spring Seed Crops to Plant – Start Your Garden Season Early!

I bet you can’t wait to start your vegetable garden as soon as possible in spring… So do I! And I am also looking forward to my first crops. Your backyard is ready for new greens, but the question is, which ones are best? And what can you grow from seed directly in your beds? What’s more, when will you be able to harvest them?

I understand your eagerness and your question; and this is why I have chosen the 8 best fast-growing crops you can sow directly in your garden in early spring. Can I help you choose one, some, or all of them?

How to Choose the Best Crops to Sow Directly in Your Vegetable Garden in Early Spring

Of course, you need to choose veggies that you like eating, but let me tell you which parameters I used to select the 8 best varieties.

• I picked easy to grow crops; spring is such a busy time in your garden that you don’t want extra chores.
• I chose crops that start well directly in situ, in your beds.
• I selected vegetables that grow well in fresh temperatures, as we get in spring in most countries.
• I also chose crops of different types, leafy greens, root vegetables and legumes, so you have diversified harvests.
• Finally, I made sure that they are all fast-growing crops, so you can harvest them soon.

PS: I also wanted to choose very healthy vegetables, with great nutritional properties and health benefits.

And now, without further ado, let’s start!

1: Rocket (Eruca vesicaria)

Rocket, A.K.A. arugula, will add its peppery and spicy flavor with nutty tones and a tangy twist to your salads and not only; you can add it to cooked dishes, cold meats or charcuterie, and it’s also great on pizzas, in wraps and with cheese. If you buy it, it will set you back a few bucks, because it’s very fashionable, but you don’t need to, because it’s so easy to grow from seed, very cold hardy, and super fast-growing. In fact, you may start harvesting it in only 20 days! What’s more, it likes cold temperatures, and it even tastes better if it gets some chilly nights. So, don’t waste the early spring window to sow it!

Actually, you should harvest it soon and often: the more you cut it, the more it grows back!

Rocket is also very good for your diet; it is rich in vitamins A, C and K, as well as calcium, iron and potassium. And it’s even better for your health, being good for your immune and digestive systems, and for your heart; it has antioxidant properties and it contains glucosinolates, which help prevent cancer!

Instructions:

• Hardiness: USDA zones 3 to 9.
• Light requirements: full Sun or partial shade.
• Planting depth: ¼ inch (about 0.5 cm).
• Planting distance:  sow 1 to 2 inches apart (2.5 to 5.0 cm), then thin out to 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm); keep rows 10 to 12 inches apart (25 to 30 cm). Yes, you get an extra early crop!
• Time from sowing to harvest: 20 to 40 days.

2: Baby Carrots (Daucus carota)

Ok, you can sow carrots in early spring, to eat them when they are big, but if you pick them when they are babies, you will have these orange root vegetables on your table within 30 to 50 days… And you should, because it would be a waste of space! Yes, just scatter the seeds in a row and then thin them out; this way, you’ll have both “kids and adults” on your menu. Ok, that sounds weird… Anyway, considering that baby carrots cost much more than normal ones…

We all know that carrots are good for your eyesight, but did you know that they are also great for your skin, your bones, your heart, and your immune system? Also good if you want to lose weight, these orange roots are rich in vitamins A, B6, C and K, as well as calcium, magnesium and potassium.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 4 to 8 (for early spring sowing, they are annuals).
• Light requirements: full Sun or partial shade (especially in warmer climates).
• Planting depth: ¼ inch (about 0.5 cm).
• Planting distance: try to keep seeds 1 to 2 inches apart when sowing (2.5 to 5.0 cm), and thin them out to 2 to 3 inches apart (5.0 to 7.5 cm); keep rows 6 to 8 inches apart (15 to 20 cm).
• Time from sowing to harvest: 30 to 50 days.

3: Snap Pea (Pisum sativum var. macrocarpon)

What’s more spring-like than the crunchy, fresh and sweet flavor of snap peas? And if you sow them early in the season, they will be on your dinner table by May! What’s more, they will fertilize your soil, feeding it with nitrogen, and so these climbers will also help your other vegetable crops. Of course, you will need to provide a trellis they can hang on to.  By the way, you can also eat the pods.

And like all the veggies I chose for you, snap peas are rich in nutrients, like vitamins A, C and K, and minerals like iron, magnesium and potassium. But they will also add polyphenols and carotenoids to your diet. And what does this mean for your health? That they protect your heart, your bones, your digestive and immune systems, and they regulate your blood sugar levels, and, finally, they are good for weight loss as well.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 2 to 11.
• Light requirements: full Sun or partial shade (especially in warmer regions).
• Planting depth: 1.0 to 1.5 inches (2.5 to 4.0 cm).
• Planting distance: 2 to 3 inches apart (5.0 to 7.5 cm) with rows 18 to 24 inches apart (45 to 60 cm).
• Time from sowing to harvest: 50 to 60 days.

4: Pak Choi (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis)

You don’t need to be an Asian chef to cook Pak Choi, and this leafy vegetable has become very popular in western cuisine as well. But you’d better plant it in early spring, because its flavor is better if it gets chilly temperatures. And it may be because of the delicate sweetness of these crunchy and big-ribbed leaves with an earthy aftertaste that it is spreading all over the world? I don’t know, but sow it now and you’ll enjoy it through the season, especially if you stagger it, because you can start harvesting it in 30 days.

Rich in vitamins A, C, K and B9 (folate), Pak Choi also provides good quantities of calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, glucosinolates, flavonoids and carotenoids. These are great for your immune and digestive systems, for your heart, bones, eyes and they are both antioxidant and good to fight cancer!

• Hardiness: USDA zones 2 to 11.
• Light requirements: full Sun or partial shade (preferred).
• Planting depth: ¼ to ½ inch deep (about 0.5 to 1.0 cm).
• Planting distance: 6 to 8 inches apart (15 to 20 cm) with rows 10 to 12 inches apart (25 to 30 cm).
• Time from sowing to harvest: 35 to 45 days.

5: Radishes (Raphanus sativus)

Let’s meet another root vegetable that likes the weather fresh and rejuvenating: radishes. With their peppery flavor, they add a spicy touch to salads, and color too. While the most common are red, you can find them white, yellow, orange and purple too. Fast growing and low maintenance, you can start eating them as you thin them out, soon after sowing them, but expect to harvest the “big one” in 25 to 30 days only.

Rich in vitamin C, folate, potassium, calcium and iron, radishes are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, great for your digestion, immune system and heart, and they will also help you rehydrate – great if you play sports! And don’t forget that the leaves are edible as well.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 2 to 11.
• Light requirements: full Sun or partial shade.
• Planting depth: surface sow them.
• Planting distance: thin them out as they grow.
• Time from sowing to harvest: 25 to 30 days.

6: Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)

Early spring is a great time to sow lettuce in your garden, and there are so many varieties you can grow early in the season that I wouldn’t know where to start. Maybe loose-leaf types are best suited to sow directly in your garden, and they are also very fast growing, so, I would suggest ‘Lollo Rossa’, ‘Oakleaf’, Black Seeded Simpson’ or ‘Red Salad Bowl’; though you can grow cos or butterhead lettuces as well. In any case, you will always have fresh salads on your dinner table.  I would definitely suggest staggering your sowing to extend the harvest season.

Humble lettuce leaves are rich in vitamins A, C, K, folate, potassium and antioxidants, and a fresh salad will help you with your eyesight, your bones and your heart.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 2 to 11.
• Light requirements: full Sun (partial shade tolerant).
• Planting depth: 1/4 inch deep (about 0.5 cm).
• Planting distance: sow about 1 inch apart (2.5 cm), then thin out baby leaves to 4 to 6 inches for the adult crop (110 to 15 cm); keep rows 12 to 18 inches apart (30 to 45 cm).
• Time from sowing to harvest: 12 to 30 days (for baby leaves) and 40 to 50 days (for the adult crop).

7: Mustard Greens (Brassica juncea)

I think you should really grow mustard greens in your garden in early spring, because you will get a long-lasting harvest. First, you will pick the baby leaves, and very soon, then you have the mature ones, and finally the flowers, which are actually more spicy and peppery than the foliage, which has an earthy flavor, and “grown up” ones add a slightly bitter note. You will keep cutting them for about two full months altogether and start as early as only 20 days from sowing them! Stagger them and you’ll eat them even for longer!

Like most brassicas, mustard greens have great properties for your diet and health.  Super rich in vitamin A (3 times your daily need for 100 grams!), vitamin C (70% of your DV) and K (120%), as well as folate, antioxidants and minerals like calcium and iron, they are virtually “a medicine box in a leaf”. Yes, they support your immune system, they are anti-inflammatory, good for your heart and health and detoxing as well!

• Hardiness: USDA zones 2 to 11.
• Light requirements: full Sun or partial shade (in warmer climates).
• Planting depth: ¼ to ½ inch (about 0.5 to 1.0 cm).
• Planting distance: sow about 1 to 2 inches apart (2.5 to 5.0 cm), then thin them out to 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) for the mature crop; keep the rows 12 to 18 inches apart (30 to 45 cm).
• Time from sowing to harvest: 20 to 30 days (baby leaves), 40 to 50 days (adult leaves), 50 to 60 days (flowers and seeds).

8: Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) 

And we could only close with a leafy vegetable classic and an all time favorite: spinach. One of the best veggies to sow directly in your garden, it will like cold temperatures (in winter too), and in fact, its flavor will turn sweeter. So, early spring is an ideal time to grow it, and you will get the baby leaves first, lovely for salads, and then the adult ones, better cooked. Keep cutting and it will grow back as well, giving you a long-lasting harvest. And a final tip; when you pick the last crop, uproot the plants, because the juicy taproots are delicious!

We all know that spinach is rich in iron, but fewer know that it also has lots of calcium, folate and vitamins A, C and K. Its green leaves are antioxidant and good for your bones, immune system, heart and digestion.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 2 to 9.
• Light requirements: full Sun or partial shade (especially in warmer countries).
• Planting depth: ½ inch deep (1.0 to 1.5 cm).
• Planting distance: sow 2 to 4 inches apart (5.0 top 10 cm), then thin out the baby leaves to 6 inches (15 cm); keep the rows 12 to 18 inches apart (30 to 45 cm).
• Time from sowing to harvest: 20 to 30 days (baby leaves) and 35 to 50 days (adult leaves).

Get Sowing Veggies in early Spring – Start the Season Early!

Start sowing any of these fast-growing crops in your early spring vegetable garden and you will start harvesting very early indeed! Easy to grow, these are really the best options for your backyard right now.