Harvesting Vegetables - when and howHarvesting vegetables is of course the main reason for vegetable gardening in the first place. You planted it, now you want to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Sometimes harvesting can be more of an art than a science, but there are some general guidelines that I can offer to help you be more successful. The main reason to harvest properly are quality and nutrition. Vegetables that are harvested at their peak will have good quality and high nutrition. If you harvest early, you'll get good quality, but nutrition will suffer. If you harvest late, the quality often suffers. Be mindful that some vegetables are very sensitive to when they are harvested, while others aren't so sensitive at all. For example, tomatoes need to be harvested within a relatively small window of opportunity, whereas carrots can remain in the ground until you're good and ready to harvest them. One of the techniques that supports harvesting vegetables is succession planting. This approach requires that you periodically plant new crops so you have a continuous supply of young and vibrant plants to provide you with a nice harvest. If you're curious about vegetables and the approach to harvesting them, just take a look at this list, click on the link, and find out more about how and when to harvest.
I'm aware that some of the items in the list aren't vegetables, but a type of fruit. Nevertheless, I include them here with our discussion of vegetable harvesting because often they are grown in the vegetable garden, and many are treated just like vegetables. Done with Harvesting Vegetables, take me home |