Harvesting

Information from Annies.com, developed by The Center for Ecoliteracy

Harvest time is when you will reap the satisfaction of all your hard work and deep attention to the garden. If plants are harvested properly, they will continue to produce delicious fruits and vegetables over a longer period of time. Each time you gather your bounty, wash, weigh, and store it, so you can enjoy it later. Harvesting the garden sounds simple — and it is — but it also requires some familiarity with how to harvest each plant. These steps can help you with your harvest:

When harvesting, clean up the plants in the ground as you go. For instance, remove any dead, damaged, or decomposed parts of the plant to allow for successful regeneration of the plant.

Root vegetables are probably the easiest to harvest. Look at the bottom of the stem and make sure that a healthy-sized carrot, beet, radish, or turnip has developed, and then pull the entire plant out of the ground. If they are not going to be eaten right away, cut off the greens and place the plant in a refrigerator or root cellar.

Herbs are also easy to harvest. They all have different harvesting requirements, but in general they are vigorous, can be harvested frequently, and will regenerate quickly.

Arugula and mesclun mixes of salad greens can be cut to about one inch above the soil and they will regenerate. Farmers refer to these as “cut and come again” crops because they will produce up to three different harvests before becoming less palatable.

Lettuce is a different story. If you want lettuce to keep producing, harvest leaves starting with the outside leaves. Of course, you can harvest the whole head by cutting the main stem below the point where all the leaves join.

Other greens such as kale, chard, and collard can also be harvested from the outermost leaves inward. The leaves should be snapped off at the stem and pulled straight downward for a clean cut. The leaves should not be cut or broken, as a short stem that is easy prey for mold and disease will remain. Make sure to leave at least four or five leaves in the middle, for the plant to regenerate.

Fruit is easy to harvest when ripe. For instance, a ripe apple should come off in your hand with a quarter turn of the stem. A ripe peach should almost fall off in your hand. A ripe raspberry or strawberry is easy to identify as well.