Have you ever asked yourself, what can I grow in my backyard with the little expertise that I have in the shortest possible time at the same time earning that extra dollar?. You do not need to have a very huge backyard for you to be able to implement this, the most important aspect is being able to utilize to the max the land that you have.
- African kale,Rugare
This is a very fast maturing kale and after seeding you should begin harvesting your in 5- 6 weeks. However African Kale does not respond well to transplanting most of us use suckers which really do well. Thin at six weeks and then you can harvest the remaining plants as you would any other kale. Use plenty of organic manure for larger leaves.
- Cowpeas
If you are growing cowpeas for the leaves and not the seed, you should be able to harvest in about six weeks or at most two months. Cowpeas likes virgin soil or at least a lot of manure. So don’t be shy about applying manure from cows or chickens.
- Cabbage
Some varieties of cabbage will mature in as short as two months from seedling.
- Pumpkin
As long as you are growing pumpkin for the leaves and not the fruit, your crop should be ready in well under two months.Muboora is very popular at MbareMusika and can fetch good prices.
- Spinach
With direct seeding, spinach should be ready in about two and a half months. If you are starting with seedlings instead of seeds the spinach will mature a little slower because it takes time to get over the shock of transplanting. This crop is highly nutritious and one of my personal favourites.
- Potatoes
Potatoes mature in two to four months depending on the variety.
- Baby carrots
These should be ready in about 30 days.
- Squash
Squash should be ready in 70 days which is quite a short time.
- Coriander
Coriander leaves take about at the very most six weeks to mature.
- Peas
Garden peas mature in 60 days which translates to two months.
- Beans
Some varieties of beans take less than two months to mature.
- Parsley
Your parsley should be ready in a record three weeks. You can even dry the parsley and sell it as dried which fetches a better price on the market.
For detailed production guide on any of the above mentioned crops make don’t hesitate to contact Agro Aid Trust.
Emmanuel DN Dube is the senior agronomist at Agro Aid Trust and Chief agronomist at ZBIN, if you have any questions please email him on agroaidtrustzimbabwe@gmail.com +263783 495 396
