let's get PICKING
In the past couple of months, we’ve shown you how to set up an easy vegie patch, and provided some basic tips for success with growing your seedlings. Now it’s time to start enjoying your harvest!
From the outside in
Many leafy vegetables and herbs can be grown as ‘cut and come again’ plants. That means you can pick the outer leaves as you need them, allowing the centre of the plant to continue growing so it keeps producing more leaves for you to harvest. Rocket, lettuce, kale, silverbeet, English spinach, chicory, coriander and parsley are among the many edibles that can be treated this way. When you’re picking them, follow the outer leaves to their base, and remove them with a sharp but careful snap. Always leave 4–5 leaves in the centre of the plant to support its continual growth.
Beautiful babies
Baby vegies are succulent and sweet, and often fetch a high price at food stores. But they are free and plentiful in the home garden, and picking a few little ones early is a great way to extend your harvest period while increasing the overall return. Beetroots, turnips and carrots can be plucked from the ground when 3cm in diameter, then steamed for a tender treat. Bunches of baby pak choy can be lifted, and tossed whole into a wok with garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil – pure decadence! When onions are the size of green onions or spring onions, they can be pulled up, and chopped for salads and such. The trick is to plant these vegies closer than recommended, thin the babies when they’re ready, and leave the rest in the ground to mature.
Double dipping
While it’s the bulbous bit we focus on when growing beets and turnips, their leaves are edible, too. And if you’re growing peas, pick some leafy tips and add them to a salad or stir-fry. They taste just like… peas! Broccoli and cauliflower leaves are delicious, and can be used as you would cabbage or kale. Don’t be tempted to pull up your broccoli plants after you harvest the central head; most varieties continue to produce lots of smaller side shoots for months to come.