13 Fast-Growing Vegetables For a Productive Fall Garden | Quick Harvest Crops

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Your garden can keep producing with these fast-growing vegetables even as summer winds down. Imagine harvesting fresh, homegrown vegetables within 30-60 days, even as the days get shorter.

Yes, it’s possible! You can enjoy a bountiful fall garden by planting these quick-growing vegetables that thrive in cooler temperatures.

It’s the perfect time to transition from the heat of summer into the cool, crisp days of autumn with a fresh crop of resilient, quick-to-grow veggies. Some leafy greens and root vegetables can be harvested in less than 60 days, even if you’re running late. 

As the summer heat takes a toll on your prized tomatoes and peppers, their production slows, and they shift into survival mode. 

Their leaves show signs of stress, pests, and disease, and instead of nurturing struggling plants, it’s time to clear them out. With just a little effort, you can replace them with these speedy fall crops that will keep your garden thriving beyond your first frost and even into winter in some garden zones.  

So, consider these fast-growing vegetables before you rip out your struggling summer crops to prepare your garden for winter.  

RELATED: Even if you’ve never gardened, this Ultimate Garden Guide for Beginners is for you! Learn everything you need to know from over 60 resources, all in one place, to be a successful gardener, including improving soil, cover crops, warm and cool season crops, organic amendments, fertilizing, watering, and so much more.

Why Plant  Fast-Growing Vegetables in the Fall?

Planting fast-growing vegetables in the fall offers several advantages. 

• Cooler temperatures reduce the stress on plants, which results in better flavor and better yields.
• Many of these plants thrive on the warm days and cooler temperatures at night.
• Pests and diseases are less active in the fall, which allows your garden to grow with fewer challenges.
• Fall crops often benefit from the first frost, which can enhance the sweetness and taste of leafy greens and root vegetables.

By taking advantage of these fast-growing vegetable varieties, you will enjoy homegrown produce well into the colder months, keeping your garden productive long after summer crops are gone. 

When to Plant Fall Vegetables

The timing for planting will vary from place to place. However, the most common time to plant fall garden vegetables is in July and August, so mid to late summer is especially important for the crops you plan to grow from seed. 

Timing will depend on when your first frost arrives. Each area has its own planting zone and calendar.

I’m in zone 7b here in Tennessee, and my first frost date is usually between October 20 and 24.

RELATED: Planning and Planting a Fall Garden will walk you through some simple steps to help you know when to start your fall garden. 

13 Fast Growing Vegetables

All these fall crops have something in common: They can all be started from seed since they all germinate quickly and can be harvested within 30-60 days. 

Secondly, all these autumn crops benefit from colder temperatures. Cooler autumn night temperatures improve their flavor and make most of them grow. 

• Baby Carrots
• Radish
• Beets
• Turnips
• Arugula
• Spinach
• Green Onions
• Mustard Greens
• Collard Greens
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Swiss Chard
• Bok Choy

Fast-Growing Root Vegetables 

Starting these vegetables in the ground is best since they are root vegetables.  

Root vegetable crops grow best when sown directly in the soil to prevent root disturbance. In other words, they don’t transplant well. 

1) Carrots

Days to Harvest: 40-50 for baby carrots, 50-90 days for mature

Baby carrots can easily be harvested in under 2 months. Thin seeds 4-6 inches apart to encourage faster growth.

Areas with shorter growing seasons should consider early-maturing varieties such as Bambinos (50-60 days) or Little Fingers (55 days).

When you harvest, don’t throw out the carrot tops. Carrot greens make a delicious Carrot Top Pesto. If you have a bumper crop, canning carrots is a great way to make them shelf-stable and extend their fresh flavor. 

RELATED: Learn How to Grow Carrots from Seed to Harvest

2) Radishes

Days to Harvest: 20-30 for mature radishes (can be eaten as baby radishes sooner)

Radishes are an excellent fall crop to grow, and if you plan them correctly, you can even do a second succession planting before temperatures get too cold.

One of my favorite varieties is this organic French Breakfast, ready to harvest in 24 days from planting. 

Radishes can be roasted, braised, or even eaten raw. Easy to grow and perfect for beginners. 

3) Baby Beets

Days to Harvest: 20-30 days for Beet Greens, 40-50 for full-grown Beets

Beets, both the greens and roots, are one of our favorites. Their rich, earthy flavor is amazing! They are a perfect crop to grow in your fall garden. Beets prefer to grow in full sun but will tolerate some shade, and a cold freeze only improves their flavor. 

One of our favorite varieties is the Early Wonder and Detroit Dark Red. They’re perfect for canning and eating fresh. These varieties can be harvested in 33 days for greens or 60 days for beets. The tender green tops are excellent for salads, cooking, and canning.  

RELATED: Learn All You Need to Know to Grow Beets From Seed to Harvest.

4) Turnips

Days to Harvest: Greens 20-30 days, Mature Roots 40-60 days

No fall garden is complete without fresh turnips. Like beets, both the green tops and the turnip root are tasty.  Turnips love cold weather and are fast growers. When you direct sow them into your fall garden, the Snowball variety is ready to harvest in 40-45 days. 

Fast-Growing Leafy Greens 

This list of fast-growing vegetables can be started indoors a few weeks before transplanting outside or directly sowing in your garden. The choice is yours. 

But don’t start them too early, as these cool-weather plants won’t germinate well in the heat of summer. 

If you start them inside, know your first frost and when to plant them outside on an overcast or cloudy day. 

1) Arugula

Days to Harvest: 30-40 days for baby leaves, 40-45 for mature leaves

With the end of summer coming on, arugula is an excellent fast-maturing leafy green that allows you to enjoy fresh salads until the first frost. In the summer heat, arugula will quickly bolt, but in early fall – late summer, the nighttime temperatures falling off will help prevent bolting. 

Every fall, we plant an Astro or this  Wild variety to enjoy with late summer salads or to add to soups and stews.  The Astro variety can also be grown as microgreens and ready for harvest in 8-12 days!

2) Spinach

Days to Harvest: (25-30 for baby, 40-50 for large leaf)

Cold-hardy spinach can grow quickly with the cool temperatures of fall. You can choose to grow any variety, but we find the larger leaf varieties grow best in the We enjoy growing the Giant Noble variety. It’s fast-growing (35-40 days), and the leaves can grow up to 25 inches long! So, the Giant Noble is excellent for canning and cooking, and you can enjoy it as a green smoothie or add it to your egg muffins for breakfast. And if you have pigs, they love the giant leaves as a treat!

3) Green Onions

Days to Harvest: (40-60 days for green onions, 60-100 for mature onions)

Realizing that growing onions to full size takes 100+ days, onion tops can be eaten when they are about 6 inches tall. If you start with sets, you can enjoy green onions in as little as 40-60 days. 

Also, did you know that since onions are biannual, the tops will regrow when you cut them about 1 inch above soil level? So, depending on your garden zone, getting more than one harvest may be possible. 

We enjoy white onions more than yellow or red, but you grow what your family will eat. But their flavor is relatively similar when eating green or bunching onions. 

4) Mustard Greens

Days to Harvest: (20-30 days)

Our favorite variety is, hands down, the Southern Giant Curled. It’s an old-fashioned mustard that is easy to grow and has a delicious, mild, peppery flavor that reminds me of horseradish. A light frost only improves their flavor. 

Mustard greens are popular in southern gardens but can be grown anywhere. They grow well in the spring and fall. 

They are wonderful when added to soups and stews and are great for canning. 

Mustard is also an excellent cut and come-again fall vegetable, so you can continually harvest well into winter since colder temperatures only improve the flavor. We start harvesting when our leaves are 4-6 inches long.

5) Collard Greens

Days to Harvest: (30-40 days for baby, 40-60 for mature)

Collards are another southern charmer in the garden. The dark green leaves make for excellent salad addition, or cook them up and serve with sauerkraut. Can you tell I’m in the South? 

Collards have a mild cabbage flavor that only improves with cold temperatures and frost. Our favorite variety to grow is Georgia Southern. 

Like mustard greens, collards are cut-and-come-again vegetables you can harvest repeatedly. 

6) Kale

Days to Harvest:  (20 days for baby, 40-50 for mature)

Many don’t like the taste of kale. It’s like beets; you either love or hate it. We love it! If you don’t like the taste of fresh kale, try adding it to soups and stews in the winter. Like collard and mustard, kale gets sweeter with frost. 

We begin harvesting when the baby plants have 4-6 small outer leaves. We gently twist the leaves, taking only 2-3 at a time. The more you harvest from the outside, the more that will grow in the middle. 

Kale is delicious when shredded into salads, and as I’ve mentioned, it is excellent for adding to soups and stews. 

Our favorite varieties are the Black Tuscan (Dinosaur) and Vates Blue Scotch (curly kale). The Vates can withstand cold temperatures and even be covered with snow; the flavor only improves. 

Of course, you can try many other varieties, such as the White or Red Russian or Premier. 

Kale, too, is a wonderful cut-and-come-again vegetable. As with other greens, only pinch and take from the outer leaves, and the plant will continue adding leaves to the middle.

7) Lettuce

Days to Harvest: (30-45 days)

Growing lettuce in the fall is well worth it! Homegrown lettuce tastes much different from the lettuce at the grocery store. It grows fast and can be harvested throughout the fall. 

We use lettuce as wraps for our grilled burgers and in salads; growing your own will save you a lot of money. 

Fall is the perfect time to grow upright lettuces like Romaine, Bibb lettuce, Little Gem, Buttercrunch, and Tom Thumb. Our favorite varieties are Romaine and Buttercrunch, as the leaves grow large enough to use as wraps.  

All these varieties are perfect for adding to a fresh salad, or if you prefer a Caesar salad, you may want to try Giant Caesar lettuce. 

My family doesn’t eat these last two fast-growing fall vegetables, but we needed to ensure you knew about them. To be quite honest, I don’t even know how to cook either one. 

8) Swiss Chard

Days to Harvest: (30 days for baby, 50-60 for mature)

Plant Swiss chard seeds and enjoy your harvest within 20 days or so. Once the leaves are 3 inches above the soil, you can harvest every week or so. Harvest the outside leaves and leave the middle intact. The leaves will regrow, and you can continue to harvest well into winter since the flavor only gets better with colder temperatures. 

Swiss chard is beautiful when growing. Its long rainbow-colored stems look amazing with fall colors. 

Colorful varieties include Rainbow, Ruby Red, Peppermint, and Pink Lipstick.  The names alone make for fun to grow. 

9) Bok Choy

Days to Harvest: (20-30 days for baby greens, 30-40 days to maturity)

Bok choy, also known as Chinese White Cabbage. It grows straight out of the soil and resembles stalks of celery.

Popular in Asian food, it can be eaten in stir fry, grilled, or added to soups and stews. Its flavor is a mild mustardy spice. 

Bok choy thrives in cool temperatures and can be grown in the spring or fall.

Popular varieties include Wa Wa Quing, Taisai, Tall White Stem, and Tatsoi.

Other Fall Vegetable Crop Varieties

Old favorites like broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and cabbage take longer than 30-60 days to mature. Though they are not the fastest-growing vegetables, they are still easy to grow. Maybe consider growing these.   

As you can see, fall is the perfect time to grow a variety of fast-growing vegetables that will keep your gardening producing well into the cooler months. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting, these quick-growing crops offer a fresh, homegrown harvest in no time.

Now it’s your turn! Are you inspired to grow a fall garden this year rather than closing it up once the summer crops are done? Do you have any favorites you’d recommend? 

Even More Garden Articles

• Simple Steps to Prepare Your Garden For Winter
• How and When to Water a Garden
• How to Use Cover Crops in Raised Beds
• Healthy Soil, Why It’s Necessary!
• How to Improve Soil Quality
• Best Way to Ripen Green Tomatoes Before Fall Frost Arrives

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