My Favorite 30- to 40-Day Varieties

I talk a lot about these quick crops. Now is the time in zone 4 and cooler to be seeding these veggies for late fall harvests - and even for overwintering and early spring harvests, too.

I’ve linked to different seed companies, but you can honestly find the right mix from any one of these companies, or others too. These just happen to be where I usually buy my seed.

Quick Radishes

Any 28 or 30-day radish will do. These are some of the ones we like to grow, from classic red (Sora), to more colorful mixes:

• Sora

• Easter Egg II

• French Breakfast

• Red Head

Arugula

I’m not as picky with my arugula seeds. I most often just grab them from Botanical Interests when I’m at the grocery or garden center.

• Rocket

• Astro

Spinach

You want to be sure if you’re growing spinach for overwintering (you should be!), you select cold hardy varieties. I sow it as late as the fall equinox here, which can be right around our first frost some years. Matador and Giant Winter are ones I’ve effortlessly overwintered without ANY protection here in zone 4:

• Matador

• Giant Winter

• Bloomsdale (I’m not sure I’ve used this for overwintering or not yet, but I did sow it this week)

Cilantro

Cilantro is remarkably cold-tolerant and we can harvest from it well into fall past those first hard frosts. You can harvest it at any size, too, so get those seeds sowed. Best to be sure to fully cover them as they tend to take a little longer (larger seeds) and seems to prefer darkness to germinate.

• Calypso

• Leisure

Salad Turnips

I almost forgot this root — and I’ve even forgotten to sow it (will remedy that today!). This 35-day variety is like a sweet, mild horseradish. A horseradish candy, if you will. So, so good!

• Hakurei

Mustard Greens

These are really fast growing brassicas. Great for early spring direct seeding too! Territorial Seed has a pretty great selection in my opinion, and is usually where I source them from.

• Miz America Mizuna

• Dragon Tongue

Broccoli Raab

This is the trickiest brassica for me. Even when direct seeded in late August it has bolted on me in the warmth of October. I need to keep trying because its expedience to harvest is worthy of deeper study:

• Sorrento Raab

Tatsoi

A fun bok choy relative, I direct seeded some of this last week for our fall garden:

• Tah Tsai

Mesclun Mixes

Admittedly not something we seed because we find the lettuce too limp, but these mixes are quick producers and could yield salads yet this fall:

• Mesclun Mix

• Chef’s Medley (Botanical Interests has several mixes to choose from)