The Southwestern Harvest Report
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| Photo Credit: David L. Morgan |
| Despite some hail damage, there’s still been a healthy apple crop in home landscapes this year. |
It’s harvesting time in the Southwest. Recent rains and favorable temperatures in much of Texas have brought an abundance of veggies and tree fruits. This summer, gardeners are picking the best peaches we’ve had in several years, and we’re seeing pears and apples loading down the branches. And corn? Well, if you don’t grow it, you can still find it fresh and in abundance at local markets. It’s a veritable corn-utopia!
| Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: David L. Morgan | | This year’s favorable weather has brought an abundance of pears in the Southwest. |
I love this time of year – when the food comes fresh and right out of the garden! Melons are ripe now, as are those luscious Pecos cantaloupes that I just can’t get enough of. And what’s a summer without cutting open a ripe watermelon? My old vegetable crops professor at Texas A&M, Dr. Homer Blackhurst, used to say that watermelons aren’t worth eating until after the Fourth of July. Even though we can find them in the grocery stores much earlier in the season now (thanks to Mexican produce), I still prefer the Texas-grown varieties from the back yard or farmers’ market. (And now’s the time to give ’em a good thump.)
In some parts of the Southwest, apricots are filling the trees, and if you think you’ve enjoyed apricots from cans or even “fresh” at the grocery, try picking them from a tree. Yum! Apricots make attractive landscape trees, too, so if you live in a warm, dry location, consider planting one in your garden. (They self-pollinate, so you can produce fruit from a single tree.)
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| Tips |
- By now, Southwesterners have harvested all their outdoor-grown tomatoes, as the plants won’t set fruit in warm weather. But instead of composting your plants now, wait a few months – keep them watered, feed them, manage their summer mite infestations, and allow them to fruit again in fall. This way you’ll have fresh tomatoes twice a year. (A couple of years ago in a mild winter, I collected fresh tomatoes from my garden on Christmas Eve!)
- Cut your fig trees back in the fall as low as 3 feet. Figs produce fruit on current-season growth, so the plant will return in good health and full production about this time next year.
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Next Steps
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Articles
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Peachy Keen (A Passionate Peach Lover’s Primer)
Nothing beats a perfectly ripe, homegrown summer peach – or one you picked from the local farmers’ market. Here’s how to enjoy these seasonal treasures – from picking and storing to eating and savoring.
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Share it, Save it, Sell it! (The Joys of Extra Produce)
It’s not uncommon for vegetable gardeners to harvest more than they can possibly eat before the “freshness” of it all wears off. Instead of gorging yourself, consider sharing, saving or selling the fruits of your labor.
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