Summary
Fast-growing emergency crops can provide fresh food in days or weeks when supply chains fail.
When planning an emergency garden, time is your most valuable resource.
Crops like radishes, spinach, arugula, and broccoli sprouts can be harvested in 5 to 60 days, even in containers or indoors using heirloom seeds.
Table of Contents
- Why Fast-Growing Crops Matter in an Emergency
- 10 Emergency Crops You Can Harvest in 60 Days or Less
- 10 Vegetables That Produce the Highest Yield
- Frequently Asked Questions about Emergency Crops
- Why Fast-Growing Crops Matter in an Emergency
When supply chains break down, grocery store shelves can empty in days—not weeks.
That’s why growing at least some of your own food is one of the most valuable survival skills you can have.
Fast-growing crops give you a quick source of fresh food while slower staples like beans, squash, or potatoes are still developing.
Think of them as your short-term food bridge.
Quick greens, radishes, and microgreens can be harvested in days or weeks, helping you stay nourished while longer-term crops mature.
And many of these crops don’t even require a full garden—they can be grown in containers, on a balcony, or even indoors on a sunny windowsill.
It’s also important to plant heirloom seeds whenever possible.
Unlike hybrids, heirloom varieties allow you to save seeds from each harvest and replant them the following season—giving you a renewable food source when buying seeds may no longer be an option.
10 Emergency Crops You Can Harvest in 60 Days or Less
1. Organic Broccoli Sprouting Seeds
Broccoli sprouts are nutritional powerhouses packed with sulforaphane. They are ready to harvest in 5 to 6 days. You only need a simple jar or sprouting tray and water to grow them.
2. Organic Bean Salad Mix Sprouting Seeds
This mix provides crucial protein and calories during an emergency. Includes 4 types of bean sprouts: Tadzuki, mung, French lentil, and daikon radish. Ready for harvest in just 4 to 5 days.
3. Organic Barley Grass Sprouting Seeds
Barley grass is a nutrient-dense superfood that you can grow on shallow trays. It provides chlorophyll and enzymes, reaching harvest size in 7 to 10 days. You can juice it or add it to emergency meals.
4. Organic 4-Part Salad Sprouting Seeds Mix
You get 4 different organic greens in this high-fiber mix: Alfalfa, daikon radish, red clover, and broccoli. Better yet, it takes just days to sprout.
5. Heirloom Cherry Belle Radish Seeds
Radishes are the fastest root crop available. Ready to harvest 25 days after planting. Even better, both the root and the greens are edible. They require minimal space and are extremely reliable, even for beginners.
6. Heirloom Arugula Roquette Herb Seeds
Arugula Roquette has a unique peppery flavor and is a hardy plant that’s adaptable to most regions. Ready to harvest in just 35 to 40 days. It requires minimal space and can be grown indoors or outdoors. Oh, and Arugula Roquette flowers are edible as well.
7. Heirloom Little Finger Carrot Seeds
Little Finger carrots are a baby variety that matures faster than standard carrots. They reach harvest size in approximately 60 days. Perfect for container gardening and small spaces due to their compact 3–4 inch size, and they can be grown in most regions.
8. Heirloom Bloomsdale Spinach Seeds
Bloomsdale Spinach is known for its tolerance to extremes, quickness to maturity, and flavorful dark green semi-savoy leaves. It’s a productive cut-and-come again variety and only takes days for regrowth. Ready to harvest in 35–50 days.
9. Heirloom Georgia Southern Collards Seeds
Georgia Southern Collards are one of the fastest-growing leafy greens available. Ready to harvest outer leaves in 40 to 65 days. This is a cut-and-come-again crop, meaning you can harvest continuously for months from a single planting.
10. Heirloom Boston Pickling Cucumber Seeds
Boston Pickling Cucumbers produce heavy and continual yields of fruits measuring 3 to 6 inches, perfect for pickling. The average time to maturity is 57 days.
10 Vegetables That Produce the Highest Yield
These heirloom seeds are also some of the most efficient varieties. This means you can feed more people with less money and time.
The National Garden Bureau rates vegetables based on their total yield per square foot, average value per pound, and time in the garden.[1]
The following vegetables are rated the most efficient:
1. Cucumbers – Cucumbers are low-maintenance and produce several vegetables from just one plant.
2. Beans – Bush beans produce a significant yield, with pole beans producing even more. Blue Lake Bush Bean seeds do not require a pole, but as an heirloom of a pole bean, it is very productive.
3. Squash – Squash produces what some deem as “excess harvest.” For the low price of the seed packet, you get paid back in full and then some.
4. Zucchini – When zucchini are started from seed and planted directly into the ground, they grow and grow and grow, eventually taking over your garden if you aren’t careful!
5. Peas – Growing peas doesn’t require a lot of space, but you get a big crop for many weeks.
6. Tomatoes – Tomatoes provide a lot of bang for your buck. You can use their high yields for canning, preserving, and eating fresh.
7. Lettuce – You can grow a lot of lettuce in a small space. It also grows quickly, allowing you to enjoy fresh salad greens sooner rather than later.
8. Carrots – Carrots are an easy root vegetable to grow.
9. Peppers – Peppers, whether hot or sweet bell peppers, are known for their good yields and easy maintenance.
10. Onions – Onions are necessary for many home-cooked recipes. They are easy to grow, and it’s much cheaper to grow your own than to buy them at a store.
Many of these seeds are included in the Survival Seed Vault.
Those that are not one of the 20 seed varieties in the vault are available as individual seed packets.
Frequently Asked Questions about Fast-Growing Emergency Crops
What vegetables grow the fastest in an emergency garden?
Radishes, microgreens, spinach, arugula, and sprouts are among the fastest-growing crops, with some ready to harvest in as little as 4–10 days.
Sprouts like broccoli and bean mixes can be grown indoors with nothing more than a jar and water. Radishes and leafy greens can often be harvested within a few weeks, making them ideal for quickly producing fresh food during a supply disruption.
What crops can you harvest in 30 to 60 days?
Several vegetables can be harvested within 30–60 days, including radishes, spinach, arugula, baby carrots, cucumbers, and collard greens.
Many leafy greens can also be harvested early as baby greens, allowing gardeners to start eating them within a few weeks while the plants continue producing additional harvests.
Can you grow emergency food indoors?
Yes, many fast-growing emergency crops can be grown indoors using containers, trays, or simple sprouting jars.
Microgreens, sprouts, lettuce, and herbs grow well on windowsills, balconies, or kitchen counters. Indoor growing allows you to produce fresh food even if you don’t have access to a traditional garden.
Why are heirloom seeds important for emergency gardening?
Heirloom seeds allow gardeners to save seeds from each harvest and replant them in future seasons.
Unlike hybrid seeds, heirloom varieties reproduce true to type. This means you can continue growing the same crops year after year, creating a renewable food source if seed supplies become limited.
What is the easiest emergency crop for beginners to grow?
Radishes are one of the easiest emergency crops to grow because they mature quickly and require very little maintenance.
They typically reach harvest size in about 25 days and can grow in small garden beds, containers, or raised planters, making them a reliable choice for beginner gardeners.
Start Growing Before You Need It
Remember, growing your own food doesn’t require acres of land—just the right seeds and a little planning.
Whether you’re planting a garden bed, containers on a balcony, or sprouts on a kitchen counter, every step toward self-reliance matters.
If grocery shelves emptied tomorrow…
What could you harvest in the next 60 days?
Let us know in the comments below.
Stay prepared,
Elizabeth Anderson
Preparedness Advisor, My Patriot Supply
Sources
[1] National Garden Bureau (NGB). Vegetable Gardening Resources and Crop Yield Information. National Garden Bureau, 2026.
https://ngb.org/
