Harvesting the bounty from your garden
HARVESTING TIPS: GET IT RIGHT FOR ALL THE DIFFERENT TYPES
If you don’t take the fruits at the optimum time they will be much less palatable.
So much effort goes into planting and growing our veggie crops, but all the hard work comes to nothing, if the crops are not harvested when they are at their best.
Tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers ripen on the bush, but beans, radishes, brinjals and sweetcorn become increasingly inedible. The pick and taste test is an effective way to determine ripeness.
Be careful not to damage the plants when harvesting. Use sharp scissors, a knife or secateurs that cut cleanly and easily.
Hold the plant with one hand and cut off the fruit with the other. Pulling or twisting off the fruit can damage the plant. Pick during the coolest part of the day or just before you need to use them.
Harvest guidelines
Green beans are best picked young. If left to mature, pick the pods before the seeds swell. Left too long they become stringy. The more you pick the longer they produce.
Beetroot can be harvested small or left in the ground until the root is 5cm-8cm in diameter. Once the leaves are 10cm-15cm long one can harvest the baby beet, which should be 2cm-3cm in diameter.
Brinjal fruit is ripe when it is glossy and true to colour. As soon as fruit starts to change colour, it is over-ripe and may be bitter. A ripe brinjal has light brown to cream-coloured seeds whereas an over-ripe fruit has black or dark brown seeds.
Carrots do not improve the longer they stay in the ground. If the shoulders of the carrot are
green, they will be woody and bitter. Pick all at once and freeze or store them in the refrigerator. Cut off the green leafy tops before storing them, as the leaves draw moisture from the roots.
Cucumber fruit is picked when it is deep green. Extend the harvest by picking the first cucumbers when they reach a usable size (a few centimeters’ long). Yellowing at the bottom (blossom end) indicates overripe, bitter fruit.
Peppers can be harvested green or left to change colour. For an extended harvest set aside some plants for harvesting green
peppers and let the peppers on the remaining plants ripen to yellow or red. Picking the peppers green allows new fruit to develop continuously.
Hot peppers can be harvested when the fruit is green or left to turn red or yellow. The longer on the vine, the hotter the peppers will be. Radishes should not be left too long otherwise they become hollow and pungent. If picked while still small they are much sweeter.
Sweet corn is ready for harvesting when the silks/tassels turn brown and dry out, with just a little green at the base. When squeezed, the husk should feel plump. If you pierce a kernel, it should bleed a light milky sap.
Harvest sweet corn in the morning when the ears are cool. To remove the ear, use one hand to hold the corn stalk and the other to pull the ear down and away from the stalk, twisting a little until it breaks off.
Swiss chard is more productive the more often it is picked. To extend the productive life of the plant, feed with a liquid fertiliser once or twice a month.
To extend the tomato crop pick the fruit as it is turning from orange to red. It will ripen off the bush. Leave a few on to become completely ripe because vine ripened tomatoes have the best flavour.
Baby marrows should be picked when they are small, sweet and crunchy.