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| Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard |
| Leafy Green Vegetables: Use a sharp knife to cut leafy greens at their base. Immerse them immediately in cold water. |
It’s what you’ve been waiting for since you planted that first vegetable seed or plant – produce that’s ripened to flavorful perfection and picked fresh from your garden. Recognizing that peak of ripeness is a skill honed over time. Still, there are some tips for getting off to a good harvesting start. Here are some suggestions for recognizing ripeness and assuring good texture and flavor from your homegrown veggies:
Leafy green vegetables like bok choy, cabbage, endive, horseradish greens, lettuce, mustard greens, sorrel, spinach and Swiss chard are at their tender best when the plants are young. Thinning not only provides delicately flavored early salad ingredients, it alleviates overcrowding and competition for nutrients and water. Use the outside leaves, allowing the central growth bud to form new leaves until it begins to bolt (or form a seed head). Water the evening before you harvest.
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| Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard |
| Root Vegetables: Use a garden fork to carefully unearth tubers or roots. Pull carrots and beets. Set them on a tarp in a protected, shady spot to dry, then brush soil from them and store in a dark, dry spot. |
Root vegetables like carrot, parsnip, radish, rutabaga and turnip are good candidates for long-season picking. When young, their flavor is mild and their texture is tender. By maturity, they develop the rich flavors and sturdy flesh desired for stews and soups. Mulch over your ripe root crops when the first frosts start, and you’ll have fresh vegetables until the hard freezes begin.
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Add Photo to Journal
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| Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard |
| Vine Vegetables: Use sharp bypass pruners or lopping shears to cut ripe fruit from the vine. Refrigerate or set them on a tarp in a shady, protected location to cure for 1-2 days, then store in a dark, dry spot. |
Vine vegetables like beans, cucumber, gourds, peas, pumpkin and squash should be picked when they reach full size and color, or when legume pods first fill with plump peas and beans. You can handpick small fruit and pods, but use a sharp pair of bypass pruning shears to cut the sturdy stems of larger fruit. (An exception should be made for berry vines, which require daily picking as their fruit achieves full color.)
Pick tomatoes when their flesh is fully colored and their skin becomes tender. Test it with your thumbnail to see if it will mark slightly with light pressure – that’s a sure sign of ripeness.
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| Tips |
- Pick cane berries (like blackberry, blueberry, currant and raspberry) every day during their season. Frequent harvesting causes them to form new buds and fruit.
- For best flavor and nutrition, use or preserve vegetables soon after harvesting.
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| Facts |
- Some vegetables (eggplant, melon and squash) reach a pinnacle of ripeness and peak flavor all at once. Others (spinach, amaranth, sorrel and all leaf lettuces) can be harvested throughout the season. Root crops (beets, carrots and turnips) can be kept/stored in the garden even after they mature, under a protective mulch covering. (Just dig them up as you need them over a period of months.)
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| Faqs |
- Q: When is the best time to pick pumpkins?
A: Pumpkins should be cut from the vine when their stalks dry and turn brown. Leave them in the field in the sun for a week to develop a tough rind, a process called curing.
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| Definitions |
- Lodging: An unusual technique used with some root vegetables like garlic, onion and shallot. Foliage is bent or tied to limit growth and prevent the plants from forming seed heads, forcing the plant’s energy to grow larger bulbs underground. (When lodging, use care to avoid breaking the stem, but do bend it sharply to crease the veins inside and limit sap flowing from the roots to the foliage. Tie leaves to keep them bent, or tie in an overhand knot to hold its place.)
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