11/7/2023 0 Comments My first harvest meaningAsparagus can be stored in plastic bags in the refrigerator for up to a week.īean, Lima or Butter: Harvest when pods begin to bulge and are filled (seeds just touching each other). If the asparagus is allowed to get much taller than 6 to 8 inches, the base of the spear may be tough and will have to be cut. Cutting too deeply can injure the crown buds that produce the next spears. Spears that are 6 to 8 inches tall are best and should be cut or snapped off just below the soil surface before the tips begin to separate. Harvesting Tips for Common VegetablesĪsparagus: Wait to harvest until the third year after planting. Store-bought produce will likely have shorter storage times due to the time between harvest and being purchased in the store.įor more information on storing fresh vegetables, see HGIC 3483, Selecting & Storing Fruits & Vegetables. Storage times provided below are for freshly harvested produce. A plant’s goal is to reproduce therefore, if its fruit fully mature on the plant, there is no reason for it to continue flowering, which means fruit production will halt. Finally, frequent picking is essential for prolonging the harvest. Future harvests depend on a healthy parent plant. Also, be careful not to step on stems or foliage of the plants while harvesting. These tools help prevent tearing or breaking of a plant, which could lead to disease infection. If vegetables are not easily removed when twisted or pulled, use a knife, scissors or hand pruners. Vegetable quality is the highest at the moment of harvest and begins to decrease rapidly afterward.īe gentle with garden plants while harvesting vegetables. If you cannot harvest in the morning, produce should be kept out of direct sunlight and cooled as soon as possible to slow degradation. These traits make morning-harvested produce crisper, juicier, and sweeter. Overnight, vegetables regain moisture that they lost during the day, and starches formed during the day may be converted to sugars during the evening. See the list below for tips on harvesting some common vegetables.Īlmost all vegetables are best when harvested early in the morning. Therefore, a gardener needs to be aware of the subtle clues that indicate a vegetable is ripe for the picking. As a result, actual “days to maturity” may be different from year to year. There are many factors that influence a harvest date, including soil fertility, precipitation, and temperature. While this may be a helpful tool, especially when scheduling seed-starting dates, succession crops, etc., it is not always reliable for calculating precise harvest dates. Most seed catalogs and labels list days to maturity for crops. However, okra pods quickly become over-mature and woody, rendering them inedible. For instance, novice okra growers may leave pods on the plant too long, opting for a larger product. As a result, many gardeners fall into the “bigger is better” mindset and allow crops to stay on the plant too long. Most vegetables attain their best eating quality when allowed to ripen on the plant, but often this peak quality is reached before the vegetable is fully mature (i.e., cucumbers, squash, okra, sweet corn, peas, and beans). Basket of vegetables picked at peak quality.
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