Maintaining Your Garden
Harvesting and Storage Tips
So you have successfully planted your vegetable and fruit garden, and spend all summer watering and weeding. Now you have an incredible variety of fresh produce, and you need to harvest it before animals and insects get to it! But how do you know exactly when to pick a cucumber, and how are you even going to eat all those potatoes?! This page will give you the knowledge you need to harvest fruits and vegetables correctly, and a series of storage techniques will help you enjoy your bounty year-round.
Harvesting
Knowing when to harvest your crops can not only help you enjoy the tastiest, most nutritious foods possible, but can also minimize the loss of produce to bugs, disease, or animals. There are a few basic harvesting tips to know that will help you make the most of your bounty. For tips on harvesting times for specific plants, check our Plants That Taste Good profiles.
What you Need, When you Need it
Generally, ripe fruits and vegetables will do better spending a few extra days in the garden than in your fridge. If you do not absolutely have to harvest, don't - produce loses valuable nutrients from the moment it is harvested, so you want to give it the shortest possible trip to your (or someone else's) plate.
Handle with Care
The fruits of your labor will fare the best when treated with care during the harvest process. Even produce that seems tough, such as onions, pumpkins and potatoes, will hold up best if they are treated with care. Rough handling can cause bruises, which will lead to spoilage and compromised taste.
Bigger is not Better
In gardening, "bigger is better" is usually not the case. Many vegetables, like eggplant, zucchini and beans, will become tough and lose flavor the longer they stay on the vine. If you want to grow a 20" zucchini to win a prize at the state fair, fine. But check seed packets for recommended fruit size to ensure the tastiest vegetables.
Beat the Heat
And the sun, for that matter. The best time to harvest is early in the morning, before the sun has come out. Produce will not have absorbed any of the day's heat, and will store much better. Leafy greens are particularly susceptible to heat and sunlight, and if you harvest large quantities in the heat of the day they may begin to wilt before you can even get them inside.
Easy Does It
When harvesting from a bush, vine, or tree, it is useful to remember that ripe fruits will almost literally fall into your hands. If you have to give more than a gentle tug to a melon, cucumber, tomato, or berry, it probably is not ready to be picked. To test yourself, try pulling on a fruit you know is not ripe, and compare that to a ripe one. With practice, you could almost harvest blindfolded!
Save the Tomatoes!
Winter is approaching quickly, and you still have tomatoes on the vine...but don't let it faze you. Make sure you harvest any tomatoes that are mature, and have begun to turn from green to yellow. These mature tomatoes can be wrapped in newspaper and ripened inside. As long as you keep a careful eye on their progress, you will not have to lose any of your favorite crop.
Storage
Before the days of supermarkets and refrigerators, people had to devise creative ways to store produce from the summer harvest so that they would have enough to eat all year long. And because the foods you harvest from your garden have more flavor and nutrition than anything you can buy in the store, knowing a few storage techniques will help you extend the benefits of your garden into the winter months. Only the highest quality fruits and vegetable should be stored - eat any bruised or damaged produce when it is fresh. Different types of vegetables and fruits require different storage techniques, so it is useful to familiarize yourself with a few.
Canning
Another old-fashioned storage technique, canning has been around since the early 1800s. Canning alters the taste of fruits and vegetables somewhat, and canned foods have fewer nutrients than fresh ones. Canning requires some special, yet inexpensive equipment, and involves heating foods to kill any bacteria, and then storing these foods in sterile, air-tight containers. Different foods require different temperatures for processing, and it is worth reading a book on canning methods before you get started.
Best fruits and vegetables:
Apples, apricots, asparagus, green beans, lima beans, beets, carrots, cherries, corn, peaches, pears, peas, plums, potatoes, pumpkins, summer squash, winter squash, tomatoes
Drying
If you have ever eaten raisins or sun-dried tomatoes, you know how good dried fruits and vegetables can taste. Carefully dried foods can preserve much of the original nutrients of produce, and drying also concentrates sugars for an extra-sweet flavor. If you live in southern states, chances are that you have the climate needed to dry produce in your own garden - hot, dry, and somewhat windy weather is ideal for outdoor drying. Fruits and vegetables should be laid flat on an elevated piece of screen or mesh to allow for air circulation. For those of us not lucky enough to live in a sunny climate, drying can be accomplished in an oven set to a very low temperature, or in a special drying machine.
Best fruits and vegetables:
Apples, apricots, cauliflower, grapes, peaches, pears, peas, plums, tomatoes
Freezing
One of the most modern and popular types of food preservation, freezing is a great way to preserve the taste, color, and nutrients of your harvest. The only vitamins that are lost through freezing are vitamin E and B6 (vitamin C can be also lost if foods are stored for over six months), and it requires no special equipment other than freezer bags and a good freezer. It is recommended to blanch (briefly boil) most vegetables before freezing in order to remove any contaminants or bacteria, as well as preserve color. For the best results, freeze only very fresh, blemish-free produce.
Best fruits and vegetables:
Asparagus, green beans, lima beans, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, peas, peppers
Jams and Jellies
Jams and jellies are a great way to deliciously preserve produce, and the sale of these types of products can be a way to earn extra income from your garden. From sweet to spicy, jams and jellies are a popular way to enjoy summers' harvest all year long. Some vitamins are lost in the processing of jams and jellies, and the high amount of sugar added means that the products are not nearly as healthy as the real thing. But for an occasional treat, a homemade jam is a tasty way to enjoy strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and other fruits (or even vegetables - like hot peppers!).
Best fruits and vegetables:
Apples, apricots, blackberries, cherries, figs, hot peppers, grapes, grapefruit, lemons, oranges, peaches, plums, raspberries, strawberries
Live Storage
This technique allows you preserve produce with the least amount of nutrient loss, but it only works for a few foods and in certain regions. This was one of the most common methods of storage on the American frontier, where people had no access to artificial cooling methods and had to rely on the great outdoors for their refrigeration needs. Produce is either kept in a cool area in storage containers (apples and potatoes), or is protected directly in the garden through coverings of straw or soil. For this technique to work, you have to live in a region with mild winters that still get cold enough to preserve produce (the Midwest, for example).
Best fruits and vegetables:
Apples, beets, cabbage, carrots, celery, garlic, onions, parsnips, pears, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, rutabagas, winter squash, sweet potatoes, turnips
Pickling
In the U.S., the word "pickle" generally applies to the kind you find on a hamburger, which are a special type of cucumber that has a spicy, sour taste. This flavor comes from the spices and vinegars which are used to store the cucumber, not from the cucumber itself, and it is actually possible to "pickle" all sorts of vegetables (and fruits!). Pickling requires the use of vinegar, but you can get creative with the amount of vinegar you use and the type of spices you add - from salt, pepper, garlic and dill (used for making the famous dill pickle), to sugar, cloves, and cinnamon (used for fruits such as watermelon, peaches, and pears). Try out a few recipes for pickling - you can create savory or sweet relishes, chutneys, and sauces that will change your concept of "pickle"!
Best fruits and vegetables:
Apples, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, green beans, onions, peaches, pears, peppers, tomatoes, turnips, watermelons