grow your own, nevada! fall 2012: reap what you sow
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Harvesting and Storing
Vegetables, Fruits and Herbs
Wendy Hanson Mazet
Helpful links and
resources
Getting Started with a Vegetable
Garden
www.unce.unr.edu/publications/files
/ho/2010/fs1015.pdf
Searching for Fact Sheets?
www.extension.org
www.growyourownnevada.com
Onions Garlic• Harvest when the leaves lose
color and the tops begin to fall
over.
•Onion bulbs varies to each variety –
in general 2 to 4‖ in diameter.
•Pull all onions when the tops fall
over.
•Allow harvested onions dry for a 1 –
2 days with the tops on
•Then clip 1 inch above bulb before
storing them in a cool, dry place.
Green Onions
•Harvest green onions when they
are 6 to 8 inches tall.
Peas• If the peas will be shelled,
harvest the pods when they are
shiny green and fully developed.
• Overly mature peas are of poor
quality.
• For the edible pod varieties,
harvest when the pods are fully
developed (about 3 inches.
Spinach• Harvested when the large
leaves are 4 to 6 inches long.
• Pull the larger, whole plants or
harvest the older leaves and
allow new growth to develop.
Greens - Swiss
Chard
• beet
greens, collards, dandelions, kale,
mustard greens, turnip greens, and
others.
• Break off the outer leaves when
they are 6 to 10 inches long and
before they start to yellow.
• Avoid wilted or flabby leaves.
Rhubarb
• Only the long, thick leaf
petioles, the ―stalks,‖ are edible.
• Wait until the second season, or
the third season if the plants were
started from seed.
• To pick, hold the stalk
firmly, pull, and twist.
Root Crops
Radishes• Harvest radishes when they
are about 1 inch in diameter.
Jerusalem
artichoke:• Dig the tubers after early fall
frosts or in very early spring
before the new growth starts.
Beets• Pull early beets when they are
about 2 inches in diameter. If
they are allowed to get much
larger, they become
woody, especially in warm, dry
weather.
• For late-crop beets, remove all
but about 1½ inches of the
tops.
Carrots• Carrots are ready to be
harvested when they are small
and succulent.
• Do not let them get over about
1 inch in diameter.
• Always pull the largest carrots
in the row.
Potatoes
• Mature tubers can be
harvested after leaves have
dried or when tubers have
reached full size.
• For Irish potatoes, a good
harvest size is 2 to 3 inches in
diameter.
• Harvest ―new‖ potatoes at any
size, but generally do not dig
before they are 1¼ to 1½
inches in diameter, 7-8 weeks
after planting.
• Let the potatoes dry several
hours in garden after digging
them.
Cucumbers• Harvest them when fruits are
bright, firm.
• A rule of thumb: harvest sweet
pickles at 1½ to 2 inches long;
• Harvest dills when they are 3
to 4 inches long, bright
green, and less crisp.
• Avoid yellowed
cucumbers, unless it is a
lemon cuc.
Beans• Harvest these beans when the
pods are well filled but have
not begun to yellow.
Beans—snap:
• For maximum
tenderness, harvest snap
beans when the pods are
almost full size but before the
seeds begin to bulge.
Winter Squash
Winter Squash
• when the fruits are full size.
The rind is firm and glossy and
bottom (portion touching soil)
of fruit is cream to orange
colored.
• Light frost will not damage
mature fruit.
Pumpkins:
• Pick pumpkins when they are
full size, the rind is firm and
glossy, and the bottom of the
fruit is cream to orange
colored.
• Harvest before frost or when
rind resist fingernails
scratches. Leave a 2 to 4 inch
stem with the fruit.
Honeydew:
• These do not slip from the vine
when ripe.
• When the bottom is yellowish
to creamy white.
• The rind should be slightly soft
at the blossom end and have a
faint, pleasant odor.
Muskmelon (cantaloupes):
• Lift and twist – if ripe it will easily slip off the stem
• The outer rind should not have any green color.
Watermelon:
• Harvest watermelon when the fruits are full size and have a dull surface and a cream-colored ground spot.
• The Thump Test
– If it’s a dull sound , similar to tapping your forehead, it’s not ripe. A hollow sound, similar to tapping you chest means it’s ripe.
Melons
Summer Squash
• Harvest squash when it is 4
to 6 inches long for yellow
crookneck squash, 6 to 8
inches long for yellow
straight neck, and 3 to 4
inches in diameter for white
scallop.
• A glossy color indicates
tenderness.
Corn
• Watch corn for signs of ripeness for earliest harvest.
• Corn silks darken and dry out as the ears mature.
• As the kernels fill out toward the top, the ends become more rounded instead of pointed.
• Pick sweet corn in the milk stage, when a milk like juice exudes from the kernels if crushed with a thumbnail.
Peppers
• Harvest bell peppers when they are full and have well-formed lobes.
• Immature peppers are pale, soft, pliable, and thin fleshed.
• Mature peppers turn orange or red; this does not mean that they are hotter.
Eggplant
• Harvest eggplants
when the fruits are
near full size—but
still firm and bright in
color.
• Older fruits become
soft, seedy, and dull
colored.
Tomatoes
• Harvest tomatoes when they are fully colored but still firm.
• Harvest red tomatoes for eating fresh, cooking, or canning.
• Do not can overripe tomatoes!
• If necessary, pick mature green or slightly pink tomatoes and ripen them at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.
Indeterminate vs. Determinate
Pip FruitsApples
• Pick ripe apples from the tree by pulling fruit upward and outward while rotating the fruit slightly.
• Frost will not sweeten or mature apples or other fruit. Sugars accumulate with bright, warm (not hot) days and cool nights regardless of frost.
Pears
• Pears picked when slightly
immature will ripen with
better quality than pears
that are over mature when
picked.
• Most mature, ready to ripen
pears will usually detach
when "tilted" to a horizontal
position from their usual
vertical hanging position.
Stone Trees
Peach/ Apricot/ Nectarine
• As fruits ripen, the flesh softens and
the skin changes from green to
purple, red, orange.
• To test ripeness by applying pressure
(the flesh should yield to gentle thumb
pressure.)
• To harvest without hurting the fruit buds
for next year’s crop, twist the fruit
slightly while pulling.
• harvested without the stems attached
Stone fruits include peaches, plums, cherries, and apricots: all have a hard pit
Cherry
• Fruit maturity can be
determined by color
• sweet cherries are hand-
harvested leaving the
pedicels intact.
• Harvest with stems
attached
ShrubsCane Fruit
• Ready to pick when they
easily separate from the
receptacle or core.
• Blackberries do not separate
from the core, so ripeness
should be judged by color
and taste.
• All bramble fruit are
extremely perishable &
should be harvested
frequently.
Gooseberry
• Can be picked when they
reach full size, but are not
fully ripe. (At this stage, the
fruit are green, tart, and still
quite hard.)
• Pick when ripened to a
pinkish color and sweeter
flavor.
Grapes
Grapes
• Color, size, sweetness, and flavor are the most useful indicators of table grape maturity.
• Berry color will change from green to blue, red, or white as the different grape varieties approach maturity.
• Color alone should not be the sole basis for harvesting grapes. The berries of many varieties change color long before they are fully ripe.
Strawberries
• Strawberries are fully ripe when uniformly red.
• Pick the berries with the cap and stem attached to retain firmness and quality.
• When harvesting, pinch the stem off about 1/4 inch above the cap.
Currants
• Fully ripe currants are
slightly soft, juicy, and
develop the
characteristic color of
the variety.
• Most currant varieties
are red at maturity, a
few are white.
• Harvest currants by
picking the fruit clusters
from the plant then
stripping individual
berries from the stem.
•The time of day and time of season
can affect the quantity of oil present
in the leaves of your herbs. The oil
present in the leaves can determine
the flavor intensity of the herb and its
nutritional content or medicinal
value.
•Harvest your herbs before the
plants flower.
•Remove any flower heads from the
plant to ensure it keeps producing as
many leaves as possible.
•For more information on herbs:
www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horti
culture/components/M1223.pdf
Herbs
Preserving
Food Safety
• Your life depends on it!
• Only use fresh, clean
food
• When canning, know the
pH and your altitude
• Maintain proper
temperatures, avoid the
―danger zone‖
• Label everything with
name & date to ensure it
is consumed within its
shelf life
Cold Storage
Refrigerated, 33°to 38°
• Vegetables:
– All Veggies except
tomatoes
– Keep a high relative
humidity
• Use crisper drawer
• Perforated plastic bags
– Root Vegetables should
have the greens removed
to a ¼‖ and the tap root cut
off
Cold Storage, 39° to 50°
• Squashes, Onions & Potatoes– Must be
washed, dried, and cured before storage
– Onions can be stored in mesh bags
• Apples (store away from other vegetables and fruits as they emit ethylene gas)– Must be kept humid to
prevent shriveling
Storing Vegetables at Home - Fact Sheet A1135
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/store/wisc_vegetables.pdf
Freezing temperatures 20°- 30°
Vegetables
• Most should be blanched
prior to freezing;
blanching is immersing in
boiling water then quickly
cooling. Time varies with
the vegetable
• Vacuum sealing, freezer-
specific plastic bags and
boxes, and glass canning
jars best
Preserving Food: Freezing Vegetables
Complete information on freezing food at home, Pub # FDNS-E-43-5
The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
http://www.fcs.uga.edu/ext/pubs/fdns/FDNS-E-43-05.pdf
Meats & Dairy
• Meats should be
repackaged into freezer
paper or vacuum sealed if
they are purchased in
plastic wrapped
styrofoam containers
• Cheese should be
packed in freezer paper
or vacuum sealed
Freezing temperatures 20°- 30°
Feb. 2011
Dehydrating
Meats & Dairy
• Must be temperature
controlled. A minimum of
160° required to ensure
safety.
Fruits & Vegetables
• To prevent browning dip
fruits in lemon juice.
• Some fruits need to be
blanched before drying
Resources
National Center for Home Food Preservation
www.nchfp.uga.edu
Ball / Kerr
www.freshpreserving.com
Canning Pantry
http://www.canningpantry.com/
Happy Harvesting
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