Goals: food

Regrows from the root end of a shop-bought bunch — the cheapest crop in the house.

The fastest useful tree there is — 3 m in a year, with edible leaves and pods.

Peppery leaves in five weeks, and yellow flowers for the bees if you let a few stalks run on.

The monsoon green that grows itself — heat-proof, rain-proof and ready in a month.

Summer staple for a sunny terrace; pick every second day or the pods turn woody.

A deep trough and forty days is all it asks. Thin ruthlessly for straight roots.

Needs depth more than space — a 30 cm trough of loose soil beats a wide shallow bed.

Cut-and-come-again greens for a kitchen garden — ready in six weeks from a shallow trough.

Sow thickly in a wide tray and cut the whole crop at three weeks — the fastest green there is.

Grows from a cutting in a glass of water. Keep it in its own pot — it will take over any other.