Even as a beginner gardener, you can be successful in the garden: you don’t have to start gardening with the most demanding plants. These 4 plants mature quickly and will give you the experience of fresh, home-grown vegetables.
Swiss chard
Swiss chard stalks can be used in cooking like asparagus, and its leaves like spinach. The stalks can be yellow, white or red, so they look nice in the vegetable garden and on the plate. Among other things, it is recommended for first-time gardeners because it tolerates both cold and heat well. The seedlings can be planted in the garden in March-April, or the seeds can be sown directly in the open field, in nutrient-rich soil, mixed with compost. It can be harvested after 6-8 weeks. Do not pick the whole plant at once, always cut only the outer leaves, so you can regularly get fresh leaves.
Radish
Radishes are a tasty, easy-to-grow vegetable that can be recommended even for the impatient: it can often be harvested 6 weeks after sowing. The easiest way is to sow directly in the vegetable bed, in rows. Do not sow them too crowded, because then the plants will grow too close to each other and they will not be able to develop properly. It is important that the soil is always evenly moist, otherwise the flesh of the vegetable will not be homogeneous.
Some plants germinate only very slowly, for example parsley: by the time it sprouts, you already forget where you scattered its seeds. Therefore, it is best to mix its seeds with radish seeds – the radishes that emerge quickly will show where you sowed them, and by the time the parsley starts to grow, you can harvest the radishes.
Peas
Due to their high protein and mineral content, tiny peas are a popular vegetable for healthy early spring meals. It is recommended to sow by mid-April, and the developing plants require a support or a trellis. Peas don’t like heat, above 25 °C they no longer produce flowers, so early April sowing promises the surest success. Peas like well-drained, fertile soil, which you can improve with compost, and overly firm soils can be loosened with sand.
Tomato
The good thing about tomatoes is that they grow almost by themselves. All it needs is a rain-proof place, such as a greenhouse, but it can also grow well on a balcony or in the garden under the foliage of a tree. If the plant is exposed to a lot of rain, it can quickly be killed by phytophthora fungal disease. Make sure that water does not touch the leaves when watering, as this also favors the spread of various fungal diseases (it is also recommended to remove the lower leaves close to the ground). The soil should be evenly moist, otherwise the skin of the tomatoes may crack. When the first small fruits appear, a special tomato fertilizer is recommended for the plant.
