Fall Veggie Harvest Tips
It’s that time of year — harvest season! Whether you have a sprawling patch of veggies just waiting to be plucked or a less-than-stellar summer crop-wise, you still need to get those vegetables out of the ground and into your kitchen. Here are some tips on harvesting to help you get the biggest bounty possible for your summer of hard work. Let’s get started!
Avoid Wet Weather
If it’s raining outside and your veggies are getting a good soak, leave them be. Interfering can cause issues that could impact their health or growth, and sometimes they can’t be saved when harvesting. With cucumbers, tomatoes, beans and other highly sensitive vegetables, it’s especially important to leave them alone when it’s wet outside and only harvest when dry.
Frequent Harvesting is a Good Idea
If you haven’t started harvesting a little bit at a time, it’s a wasted opportunity to get even more from your garden this season. Frequent harvesting can not only help encourage more crops, but it may also make your veggies taste better, not to mention raise their quality. Besides, how can you possibly resist digging your hands into the veggie patch and enjoying a dinner with homegrown vegetable goodness?
Ease Up on the Watering
Tomatoes and some other vegetables need time to ripen, which means that there really is such a thing as too much water. If you decide not to stop watering some vegetables on a frequent basis, the flavour and quality won’t be as good. Let Mother Nature do her thing to get the best results with veggies that need to ripen — you’ll see and taste the difference at the dinner table.
Use the Right Tools for the Job
Some veggies don’t like when you approach them with bare hands instead of specialized tools. While it might look easy enough just to grab that head of lettuce and yank it out of the ground, easy isn’t always better. You’ll do better by using a sharp knife, pruning shears, or other tools to protect against damaging the plant or any part of it that you’re planning on harvesting.
With so many different types of veggies out there, each with unique needs, it can feel a little overwhelming if you’re standing in front of a massive garden full of ripened goodies just waiting to be brought inside, but hopefully these tips can help you get started properly! Make this harvest season a memorable one for the right reasons and enjoy.