Avant Gardener: Know when to harvest for the best homegrown vegetables

  • By Kyle Valentini
  • July 1, 2013
  • 384
                        
Summary: Food grown in your own garden tastes better and some believe is better for you. Harvest at the proper times to get the most out of your backyard garden. The main reason we grow food is so we can harvest it and eat it. Knowing when to harvest fruits and vegetables can make the difference between an average garden and a great garden. Some vegetables like radishes make it easy to see they are ready to be pulled. As the root becomes bulbous and peeks out of the soil it is time to harvest. Leave radishes in the ground too long and their quality will deteriorate quickly making the crisp vegetable woody and unpleasant. Some people eat the greens. I throw them on the compost pile. Tossed in a salad or steamed in white wine, there is no way I am going to eat the leaves but you can try it. Tomatoes can be harvested at three different stages of their development and for those of us that enjoy green tomatoes that is a good thing. A mature green tomato is firm and it lighter in color. While most everyone is familiar with the cornmeal dusted fried green tomato there are other ways to eat them. Green tomatoes make a fine salsa, relish or chutney. If you are still slightly impatient you can harvest tomatoes when they are not quite red, that is if you are growing tomatoes that will eventually be red. While still a little pink, pick tomatoes and leave them at room temperature for about three days. Vine-ripened tomatoes are one of summer’s finest rewards. Eat them right away and you’ll never want a supermarket tomato again. Knowing when to harvest potatoes is not as tricky as you might think. Even though they are developing beneath the soil their leaves and flowers let the gardener know when digging should commence. New potatoes are young and tender and while they do not store well, they taste so good it is worth disrupting the plants in order to harvest a few. Just after the plants have flowered is the perfect time to harvest new potatoes. Do so gingerly so as not to harm plants that will continue to produce potatoes to harvest later. Once the plants turn brown and die harvest the mature tubers. Leave them out in the sun for a few days. Store them without washing in a cool, dry place. Green beans come in bush and climbing varieties and both are easy to grow. Harvest beans when they are still immature. Pods will be a decent size and the seeds inside will not be fully developed. Green beans do not store well and must be used within a few days. Quickly blanching the green beans and freezing them will allow you to enjoy them later. Most culinary herbs can be harvested continually throughout the season and in fact, snipping the leaves regularly will encourage new growth and keep plants bushy.


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