The harvest guide to summer vegetables
If gardening is new to you, harvesting summer vegetables can be challenging. Use this harvest guide to determine when your summer vegetables, such as beans, tomatoes, squash and others, are at their tastiest. and how to harvest them. We have selected some of the most populare vegetables.
Jump quickly to the vegetables of interest to you if you don’t want to know all the harvesting methods and times:
Harvesting green beans
Green beans can be harvested as baby green beans, or you can wait until they are fully grown for a larger crop. Because bean stalks break easily, pick the beans with two hands. Hold the stalk in one hand and pick with the other instead of pulling on the pods. When the bean plant begins to bear fruit, pick every other day to make sure they produce as much as possible. If the plants are satisfied, healthy bean plants often rebloom and produce a second and third crop of beans.
The simplest method of preserving an abundant crop of green beans is to blanch and freeze them. Blanch them for a minute in boiling water and then cool them quickly in ice water. This procedure restores and brightens their color while maintaining the crunchy texture of the pods. After this, you can freeze them Want to know more about blanching and freezing? Then read our blog on “How to freeze your harvest.“
Harvesting Cantaloupe and Honeydew melons
Melons usually ripen in a short period of time. Once 1 melon is ripe, the others are not far behind, usually within 3 to 4 weeks. About a week before a melon is ripe, water the melons to just enough to prevent the branches, or veins, from wilting. This allows the plant to concentrate sugars in the fruit. Too much water dilutes the sugar and, of course, the sweetness.
You can judge the ripeness of a melon by color and the stem. The skin of a melon changes from gray-green to yellow-brown and the net pattern becomes more pronounced. At the stem, a crack appears that surrounds the base of the stem. A ripe melon should slide right off the vine. Ripe melons also develop a sweet, musky scent that is noticeable when you smell the fruit.
The Honey Dew melon with smooth skin turns creamy when ripe and the tip of the blossom should give slightly when you press on it. Do not press the tip of the blossom repeatedly while trying to measure maturity. Excessive pressing can lead to bruising, giving a false reading of ripeness. If you want to harvest a Honey Dew that you don’t want to use right away, leave about 2.5 inches attached to the stem to prevent the melon from rotting.
Store melons in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Cucumber harvesting
Cucumbers can be harvested when they have reached a usable size. As the fruit begins to develop, check the plant every day, as it grows rapidly. As you harvest more from a plant, more fruit is produced. Use a knife or scissors to cut off the stem above the fruit, then remove it. The delicate plants may be damaged if you pull on them.
Make sure the cucumbers do not get too big or they will become bitter and the plant will not be able to produce more. Fruit that is overripe contains tough seeds. When the underside of a cucumber (blossom end) turns yellow, it indicates overripe, bitter fruit.
Cucumbers can be stored in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days, but should be eaten as soon as possible after harvest. If you don’t eat a sliced cucumber in one sitting, wrap the leftovers in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator to prevent dehydration. It’s even a smart idea to put your whole cucumbers in a ziplock bag or plastic wrap before putting them in the refrigerator. Keep in mind that wax is used to prevent moisture loss in store-bought cucumbers. Not like yours. They stay crispier longer if stored in foil or a ziplock plastic bag.
Eggplant harvesting
Harvesting is a crucial aspect of eggplant growers’ craft, as underripe or overripe eggplant fruit can taste bitter. The size of a fruit should no longer increase, it should have a shiny skin, and if you cut it open, you should see a scattering of soft, well-formed, but unripe, white seeds. Unripe fruits lack visible seeds and overripe eggplants have hard, black seeds.
Because the fruit will not come off by hand, harvest eggplant plants with a small part of the stem still attached with pruning shears. Clean, dry with a towel and store in the refrigerator for a few days. Eggplant discolors quickly when cut open, so act quickly when assembling slices or skewers for cooking. Sliced eggplants will not brown if marinades containing salt, vinegar or lemon juice are used.
Harvesting peppers
Use secateurs or a sharp knife to cut off peppers with a short stalk still attached. When you pull peppers by hand, whole branches usually break off. Rinse peppers with water, pat dry and store in the refrigerator.
Pick peppers when they are at the known size and fully colored. If you’re not sure what that is, look at the breed description of what you bought on the label. Many hot peppers turn red but can be eaten green. Red, yellow and orange start out green and color later.
Don’t worry if you don’t know exactly what kind of peppers you have. Most can be eaten at almost any stage. Fortunately, peppers have a long time period before harvest; they can hang on a plant several days after maturity. Overripe peppers tend to be sweeter. Overripe hot peppers tend to get hotter. You find out after the first few peppers appear. Peppers, like most other vegetables, produce the most if you pick them often.
Sweet potato harvesting
Shortly before frost, sweet potatoes are usually ready to be harvested as soon as the ends of the tendrils begin to turn yellow. Find the base of the plant and then use a digging fork to loosen a wide circle around it to avoid damaging tubers. Use your hands to gather your sweet potatoes after you lift the crown. You can shorten some of the long tendrils before digging to make digging easier and get them out of the way. Because cold temperatures can affect the quality of potatoes and their shelf life, harvest before the first night frost.
When first unearthed, sweet potatoes are not particularly sweet, but they work well in baked goods with added sugar. To bring out their flavor, they need time to “cure” or sit and rest. Avoid washing before curing. Instead, shake off all the soil and place the unwashed sweet potatoes in a warm and well-ventilated area for about 10 days. Any indentations in the skin should disappear as the sweet potatoes ripen, and the inner flesh will become sweeter and more nutritious. Because fresh, unsalted potatoes don’t bake very well, this is crucial. After 10 days, move your hardened tubers to a cool, dry place, but do not store them in the refrigerator. When stored in a basement or other air-conditioned room with a temperature of about 15°C and high humidity, salted sweet potatoes last up to 6 months.
Use a vegetable brush to scrub your sweet potatoes clean and rinse them before you cook them.
Harvesting tomatoes
The exact indications of ripeness vary depending on the type of tomato, but in general, fully ripe tomatoes have a deep color and feel soft when pressed gently, but not stiff. Similar to the distinction between a peach or an avocado that is fully ripe and 1 that is just beginning to soften.
The hue of tomatoes ranges from vibrant mid-green to a softer shade with subtle pink or yellow streaks. These “breakers,” or mature green tomatoes, can be pickled, fried into a crunchy snack or sliced into salsas. As the fruit ripens, however, tomato flavors become considerably more complex, so there is good reason to wait….
Picked tomatoes should be stored indoors or outdoors at room temperature in a shaded area. Never store tomatoes in the refrigerator, as the invaluable flavor compounds degrade at temperatures below 13°C. For later use, tomatoes can be frozen, canned or dried.
Harvesting watermelon
Normally, watermelons take two weeks to ripen. The rest do not take long to ripen after one melon does. Water as little as possible to prevent the tendrils from wilting about a week before a melon is ready to harvest. Sugars in fruit concentrate when water is withheld from them. Too much water dilutes the sweetness.
The color of a watermelon’s skin indicates how ripe it is. The outer layer of the fruit changes from vibrant to dull green and the area in contact with the soil changes from greenish white or straw yellow to rich, creamy yellow. Tapping on the skin of a watermelon and listening for a low thud are other ways gardeners determine the ripeness of a fruit. Fruits that are not fully ripe produce a high-pitched, tinny sound.
Watermelons remain good for two to three weeks without refrigeration. To extend their storage period, place them in a cool cellar. After cutting, put the leftovers in the refrigerator. If you have extra melons, dice them or make balls of the flesh and freeze them for smoothies.
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