Umm….so this is summer in Mumbai and it gets really HOT! Green shade on my terrace can block off a lot of the heat on my top floor apartment. So I planned to cover as much terrace surface area as possible with quick growing veggies, with the emphasis on QUICK. Here’s my top eight quick growing veggie list!

     

1 & 2) Ambitious leafy greens and reds – spinach and red amaranth

– seed to full growth in a month (they seem too dense, and I realize this later, but for now I’m happy!)

3) Over-the-Top Tomatoes – eight plants are enough for a small family, bragging rights extra!

– these were purchased as six inch saplings in March and took a month to get into full form

4) Overachieving Okra – simply plant it and watch it shoot up!

– from seed to three feet high in two months, still growing and giving forth produce each week

5)  Bursting Forth French Beans – quick green cover and great for your soil

– from seed to a foot high in one month, and still growing

6, 7 & 8) Cabbages, Cauliflower and Capsicum – stuff we love!

– from seed to hearty growth in two months, with more to grow

Challenges of Top Ten Lists

Okay, so the reason this was a top eight and not a top ten list is that my dream of quick growing gourds did not quite take off! Despite last year’s easy ride with an ambitious bitter gourd, this year the little creature refused to budge out of its seed, even after four attempts to germinate it. My two snake gourds did grow – prettily, but scantily – and I’m still encouraging these shy guys to make the most of summer!

My shy snake gourd

I am down but not out – and next season, gourds there will be!!!

Others That Wanted to Grow Quick (but were nipped in the bud)….

How could I possibly forget these wannabe veggies?  These are serious-looking, quick growing weeds that had taken over my farm  last year, when I was just a gullible green farmer 🙂

     

Serious weeds – one looks like wheat, the other like basil – but I figured them out this season!

Until the next post, goodbye and happy growing!

 

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