Fastest growing edible plants.

I haven't yet tried this, but I have read that some seaweeds are one of the fastest growing edible plants there is.

I'd like to know other edible plants that take very little time from planting to eating. Please share your knowledge in this area. It may come in handy one day.

The Pacific giant kelp has been recorded as growing 18 inches per day and can achieve a total length of 150 feet. Though it's not very good fresh, if dried out it can add a salty flavor to any dish. It has also been ground up after being dried and used as a salt substitute (as long as it hasn't undergone any de-salinization) in dishes or even on popcorn.

There is also a tropical species of bamboo that grows at 3 feet per day. Bamboo is both edible and functional, in that you can use it to fabricate a shelter and fill your belly. However, there is a catch with bamboo. After planting it, it won't grow the first year. The second year it will grow slowly, but by the third it will be just like Jack's beanstalk. This works best, therefore, if you're in an area that already has bamboo.

In a typical home garden, radishes in 22-30 days depening on type.

Zucchini in 4-6 weeks if memory serves.
Best harvested when 8" long or so.
Most people let them get too big.

Tomatoes 65-80 days depending on type.

Cucuzzi - 6 foot long Italian squash... grows like kudzoo... eats more manure than you can feed it. One vine can produce 40 6' fruits if fed enough organic nutes.

Cut into 1/2" cubes and add to any tomato/pasta dish or soup. I grow mine on a 4x16 trellis laying flat 6 foot off the ground. The vines crawl up the posts then cover the trellis. 75 days after planting you can feed an army with the hanging fruits. Doesn't cost me a thing but $2 seed pack and $5 bag of chicken poop... I even plant them near my property line where my neighbors A/C waters them for me. Grows anywhere in continental US.

I like the thread...

Sri Oracle

Originally posted by Desert Dawg
In a typical home garden, radishes in 22-30 days depening on type.

Wow! Never heard of an edible plant that was ready before a month after planting. I will now be adding them to my garden next year.

Sprouts will take two to five days to grow to their optimum size.
ianrpubs.unl.edu...
www.universal-tao.com...

Originally posted by godservant

Originally posted by Desert Dawg
In a typical home garden, radishes in 22-30 days depening on type.

Wow! Never heard of an edible plant that was ready before a month after planting. I will now be adding them to my garden next year.

Radishes are a great way to get the kids interested in gardening.
Plant every two weeks so you have a constant and fresh supply.

I'm just an amateur gardener, but one thing to keep in mind if you're doing a garden is that you're growing soil as well as plants.

Takes a couple of years to get some decent garden soil going.
Soil amendments are one way and another way is to plant nitrogen rich plants and plow them under as green manure.

I had my Central California garden soil - originally very alkaline - very near a neutral PH and it was doing well.

Now I'm looking at rocky Arizona desert soil and starting over.
(Thought I'd do a container garden in big pots, but that didn't work to well.)

Not sure if I'm going to till the soil or build some open bottom redwood boxes and bring in some topsoil.

Either way, things should grow well out here.
Water is what it's all about - as shown by the heavier than normal winter rains last year, the desert greened up nicely and stayed green for quite a while.

Nothing like a fresh garden grown tomato.
Try em once and you'll never be satisfied with the hard red things found in the store....

Originally posted by Sri Oracle
Cucuzzi - 6 foot long Italian squash... grows like kudzoo... eats more manure than you can feed it. One vine can produce 40 6' fruits if fed enough organic nutes.

Cut into 1/2" cubes and add to any tomato/pasta dish or soup. I grow mine on a 4x16 trellis laying flat 6 foot off the ground. The vines crawl up the posts then cover the trellis. 75 days after planting you can feed an army with the hanging fruits. Doesn't cost me a thing but $2 seed pack and $5 bag of chicken poop... I even plant them near my property line where my neighbors A/C waters them for me.

Grows anywhere in continental US.

I like the thread...

Sri Oracle

I like the thread too.

Not criticizing here, but would those 40 fruits be 6" long?
A couple of six footers would do it for me.

Sounds like an interesting plant, I like zucchini quite well and Sweetie makes a killer good relish from the stuff.

One other comment, once you decide on a size for the garden, plant half in veggies and the other half in buckwheat which is an excellent green manure.
Next season, plow the buckwheat under about a month before planting veggies on that half.
Back and forth will get you some pretty good garden soil over a 2-3 year period.

You don't need a big garden either.
A ten by ten foot plot will supply most of your summer veggies.

First time around stay away from too large a garden.
You do have to weed etc. and that can get old.

There are ways around the weeding bit, but I like to leave things open and if you keep up on the weeding, it's easy.

Oh yeah...I guess I may have gone a little exotic there...The whole seaweed thing turned me away from regular garden variety of fruits and veggies.

One good plant that yields a lot of food but takes a while to grow is tomato plants. They're plant in the spring, harvest late summer plants, but man do they ever produce tomatos! The best part about it is you can do various things like stew them or sundry them in order to preserve them.

I grow varieties of grean and wax bush beans that seem to spring up over night and if I pick off the small young beans (the best to eat) they just keep on coming over and over. As long as you don't let the beans mature and form large seeds in their pods you will get an endless supply over the summer.

In the fall you can start leaving the largest and fattest pods on the bush so that they can dry and you have seeds for the next year.

If too many beans come in too fast to eat you can blanch them in boiling water and freeze them for the rest of the year in ziplock bags with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of salt for a quick side dish in the middle of winter.

Nothing like eating from your own garden on a cold night in January..

What an interesting thread!!! In these times of uncertainty this may be just the information people need.

________________________________________________________________
Be Cool
K_OS

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
I grow varieties of grean and wax bush beans that seem to spring up over night and if I pick off the small young beans (the best to eat) they just keep on coming over and over. As long as you don't let the beans mature and form large seeds in their pods you will get an endless supply over the summer.

Nice!! Getting some great info here - going to try that one too. Never been too fond of beans, but if they are that pletiful, I will try it.

Another reason for starting this thread, I was considering adding seeds (and of course more knowledge) to my survival pack. "IF" needed, would be good to get some other foods coming in as soon as possible.

Mushrooms grow relatively quick after the initial stages of preparation are completed, which take a few weeks to a month. The actual fruiting, depending on variety, can take less than a week and up to a month. After initial investment of a hundred or so, a sort of perpetual harvest system can be set up with relatively little ease, and space. I like growing my own portabellos, I refuse to pay 6.99 a lb for them.

For those who live in warmer climates, salad greens can be grown year round, full sun in winter, some shade in summer. Similar to many other vegetables and fruits, picking them while young keeps them from fully developing , and can provide fresh greens on a daily basis after seedling stage which takes only a few weeks to a month.

I plant a variety of greens (arugala, romaine, red leaf, endive, raddicchio, etc,) together in a few 15 gallon 18 inch pots, and that is more than enough for me and my fam, and we eat salad every day. I set up this in a perpetual harvest system as well, planting one new pot every month or so.
At the end of summer allow one pot to fully develop, thinning out all but one of each variety, and voila, perpetual seed production.

Container gardening is great for so many reasons, complete control of conditions, conservation of space, water, nutrients, etc, etc. With more land turning up with toxic seapage, and traces of chemicals everywhere, I feel much safer knowing the exact chemical compisition of my growing medium.

Sorry didn't mean to go off topic, hopefully the above can be of some help though.
[edit typos]

[edit on 7-9-2005 by phoenixhasrisin]

Originally posted by godservant
I haven't yet tried this, but I have read that some seaweeds are one of the fastest growing edible plants there is.

I do not know how you would set up something to produce enough seaweed though. Then again I do not even know how much a typical family could consume....

I found this on spirulina cultivation, and they mentioned growing it at home. I suppose it could be done with any type of seaweed really . I am sure on the smallest scale at least a medium to large size fish tank with heavy aeration, and proper nutrient content should due the trick, some sort of sea salt for salinity. I am sure hydro fertilizers would work.

I might try this and keep you guys posted, as I already grow some fruits and veggies hydroponically and I have an aquarium..Should be easy.

GROW IT YOURSELF?

Bath Switzer and Newsom agree that Spirulina farming will likely soon be possible for homesteaders who want to supply their own protein. As the Texas researcher says, "It can be done ... although the process is not as well understood—and hence isn't as 'easy'—as is regular gardening." All that's really necessary is equipment to agitate the water, and the nutrients (such as potassium, nitrogen, and a variety of trace elements) that must be added to duplicate the conditions under which Spirulina grows in the wild. In fact, adds Newsom, one could—and actually should—begin in-home experiments with algae cultivation using small aquariums (equipped with fluorescent lights) or greenhouse ponds.
www.motherearthnews.com...

Someone the other day told me that yu can live 100% on parsley if you want to...

haven't done the research, however I thought I'd post it here anyways...

Cheers

JS

To add to JJ's comment on tomatoes; plant several bushes.
At least two types, one early bloomer (like "Early girl") and another that comes in a few weeks later.

Share them with neighbors and co-workers.

One year I planted 16 tomato bushes - about 12 varieties - and had quite the harvest.
I took em to neighbors, took em to work and they were favorably received.
Sweetie thought I was nuts, but the neighbors and co-workers loved me.

I really made points when I used to pick lugs of avocado's from my mom-in-law's trees and take em to work.

She had 16 avocado trees, some were common, some were a bit of an experiment, all were good.
The house she lived in was where the owner of an old avocado ranch in Southern California did development work
The owner retired, sold the ranch and mom-in-law bought the house.

When I took the avocado's to work, they went faster than Snickers Bars on Halloween....

Great thread!

I would like to know if anyone is doing hydroponics (for food thank you). It's something that's has interested me for quite a while, but I can't seem to decide if it is actually cost effective. So far, beyond the hobby value and organic produce perks, I can't seem to find a set up that would really be worth the investment.

Originally posted by Relentless
Great thread!

I would like to know if anyone is doing hydroponics (for food thank you). It's something that's has interested me for quite a while, but I can't seem to decide if it is actually cost effective. So far, beyond the hobby value and organic produce perks, I can't seem to find a set up that would really be worth the investment.

FYI-Growing is growing, certain plants have certain requirements, but as long as you meet them then all is well. If you are growing lettuce, tomatoes, aubergines, or a little cannabis indica, it's all a matter of just providing what the plants need. All that differs is pH, nutrient, water, humidity, and light requirement's.

Yes I grow tomatoes, zuchinni, rasberries, blueberries, blackberries, orchids, and some of my mushrooms hydroponically. I am currently experimenting/trying to perfect hydro organic techniques. (hydro growing methods using only organic nutrients) Yes though, it is very cost efficient and there are even ways of setting it up so that you do not need to depend on the electricity usually needed for pumps and what not.

Depending on what you are trying to grow, hydroponics, or aqua culture usually produce both an increase in yeilds by 30%, and a decrease in growing time by the same percentage, on average.

What kind of things do you want to grow? Tell me and I can probably help you out.

On average try to stay away from commercial hydroponic systems, One can usually build their own at a fraction of the cost.

The most economical medium I have ever used for hydro was lava rock, which can be purchased at most hardware stores for as little as a dollar fifty for a shovel full. Lava rock is almost perfectly neutral as far as Ph is concerned, and contains many trace elements. It is a good way to start for the beginner, without having to get into stabilizing pH for rockwool, or whatever.

Once again tell me what you want to grow, and I can probably give you an idea of how to go about it.

Depending on what you want to grow, on average setting up a beginning Hydro system will cost you anywhere from 50 to a couple of hundred dollars. You can do it for cheaper if you are willling to put a little effort into building things yourself as I already mentioned.

Figure- 20 for containers, 20 for a pump, 20 for a H2O resevoir, 20 -50 for nutrients, initial investment of 75 for an EEC meter to test conductivity. 20 or so for substrate (lava rock)....

Of course this is all for outdoor use...If you want to grow inside then you have to figure in an additional 200 or 300 for a high intensity discharge lamp (1000 wt HPS, or MH). One does not need to grow indoors though to grow hydroponically.

What you also need to realize is-The relatively high start up cost is offset after two or three harvest, considering the fertilizer,water and space being conserved. True it might cost more than digging some manure into the ground and watering every day, but in the long run it is much cheaper, and ecologically friendly (cosidering you are not using rockwool).

[edit on 7-9-2005 by phoenixhasrisin]

Hi! Great thread!
I've been looking into this for a while, for fun, but also to learn how much food I could grow in a hurry. I've only started some carrots and lettuce, as I have heard those are fast and easy, and they seem to be doing nicely. My tomatos have been great all summer, and people around here practically beg you to take zucchini, it seems to be that prolific! I found a nice article on the quickest crops to grow, most are great for fall sowing.
Quick crops

Originally posted by Sri Oracle
One vine can produce 40 6' fruits if fed enough organic nutes. - Sri Oracle

Originally posted by Desert Dawg
Not criticizing here, but would those 40 fruits be 6" long?
A couple of six footers would do it for me.

No kidding 6 feet long... though they are best when harvested under 3 feet. I've heard they're considered delicacies under 10" but thats too veal for me. One year my uncle planted 8 plants near his deck... they covered his deck, railing, across his pool, up his clothesline, and into his oak tree. Everyone had a freezer full. All it took was a couple of bags of Black Cow.

The old folks in my family pronounce cacuzzi as "Ka-gootz".

- Sri Oracle

[edit on 7-9-2005 by Sri Oracle]