http://www.care2.com/greenliving/harvest-your-summer-vegetable-garden.html
Harvest Your Summer Vegetable Garden
For those who have a vegetable garden, there is nothing better than having a garden full of fresh zucchini or vines bursting forth with ripe, juicy tomatoes. But, its important to pick your vegetables at the optimum time to ensure that you get the longest season possible. Harvesting at the right time, and harvesting in ways that will stimulate the plants to bear more fruit, means that you can keep on enjoying them throughout the summer.
Vegetables need to be harvested every day or so. In general, most vegetables taste better when they are young and tender. In addition, too many mature fruit will make the plant stop producing, so harvesting regularly will spread out your harvest season. And, since most vegetables contain the most nutrients just after being picked, you might want to think about planning out your meals to coincide with your harvest times.
Here are some tips on when and how to harvest some popular summer vegetables.
- Beans (snap): Pick before you can see the seeds bulging. They should snap in two easily and because they can get tough quickly, check them daily.
- Corn (sweet): Harvest sweet corn when the silks are dry/brown and the kernels are plump and tender. The kernels should exude a milky substance when pricked. You can check a few ears for maturity by opening them at the top of the ear and pressing a few kernels with your thumbnail and looking for this milky juice.
- Cucumbers: Make sure to harvest them early, before the seeds become about 1/2 inch in size although seed size does vary by variety. Generally, most varieties will be 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter and five to eight inches long. Over-ripe cucumbers can be bitter or stringy so make sure to check them daily. They should be firm and smooth.
- Peppers (sweet): Harvest when fruits are firm and full size. If red peppers are desired, leave on plant until they are red in color.
- Summer Squash - Always harvest when the fruit is young and tender because the smaller the squash is when you pick it, the better it will taste. Cut all fruit off and never lift squash by the stem. You want to cut it before it gets about eight inches long when the skin is still soft (when skin can be easily broken by a fingernail) and before seeds ripen. Letting it get too big will also slow down production of tender new fruit.
- Tomatoes - While each variety varies, in general, the best time to pick your tomatoes is when the fruit is evenly red and the end is still firm and not soft. Try to pull them from the vine by gently twisting them. Leave the fruit on the plant to ripen as long as possible unless you are having trouble with pests to give yourself a longer season.
Judi Gerber is a garden and agriculture writer, a horticultural therapy consultant, and a certified Master Gardener with the UC Cooperative Extension Los Angeles, Common Ground Garden Program.
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11 comments
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I am loving all the preserving ideas and hope you share with everyone things you do with your produce.
I can tell you what to plant when and how to grow, but I am hopeless in the kitchen and that is part of what I am hoping to learn!
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After harvesting, I typically end up with excess vegetables. In addition to sharing with others, I use my food dehydrator to dry and preserve my vegetables for use later in the year. Thanks.
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my tomotoes are a lot sweeter than shop brought ones
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Your vegetable juice sounds delicious Sandra!
I spotted a big buck in the garden last nite eating all my remaining lettuce and obliterating the eggplants (darn that open garden gate at the bottom that I am prone to forgetting!). I was relieved to discover that we spotted him before he could eat more than he did!
Here's a real simple, fast recipe for GAZPACHO- a delicious summer staple from our organic garden.
I throw the following in my blender (cut into a few chunks):
2 fresh picked, big fat organic heritage tomatoes,
1/2 a fresh cuke, skinned (or not, if it isn't too bitter)
1/2 a green bell pepper
several fresh basil leaves
1/2 clove garlic
1 veggie bouillon cube (I like Sun Harvest organic cubes)
3 Tablespoons organic balsamic vinegar (more or less)
Blend, chill, and serve with chopped basil sprinkled on top and a leave on the side. Serves 2 big moutwatering bowlfulls!
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Our poor garden this year was hit with caterpillars, squirrels and human vandalism. My tomatoes are doing well, as are my herbs, but the green beans never sprouted and my pepper are shameful.
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We tried our very first garden this year. We have learned much, that will help us be successful more next year. Our ground holds lots of nutrients, yet it needs to be able to hold moisture. We spent a small fortune trying to keep enough water on it. Thus we will be adding peat moss, compost, and other things to give it what it needs to hold water and not have to be watered daily. We managed to harvest a few things this year, so next will be much better. It has been a definite learning experience.
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At first there were some beautiful, delicious tomatoes. Then the insects mounted an offensive. My organic pest control mixture didn't work. My tomatoes, grown in large containers, were visited by egg-laying insects. Soon each tomato had a one inch doorway to a worm nursery. The stems became hollow and weak. Some of the leafy tips are still healthy looking, but there is no more crop.
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We have always had a vegetable garden & I am lucky because my husband is the expert on when to harvest. Prior to that my father was the greatest gardener on this earth.
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Sounds tasty! But how did you get juice out of it?
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