Harvesting Vegetables

The nutritional content, freshness, and flavor that vegetables possess depend upon the stage of maturity and the time of day at which they are harvested. Overly mature vegetables will be stringy and coarse. When possible, harvest vegetables during the cool part of the morning, and process or store them as soon as possible. If for some reason processing must be delayed, cool the vegetables in ice water or crushed ice, and store them in the refrigerator to preserve flavor and quality. The following guidelines can be used for harvesting vegetable crops.

Beans, snap - Start harvesting before seeds develop in the pod (about the diameter of a pencil). Beans are ready to pick if they snap easily when bent in half.

Beans, lima - Harvest when the pods first start to bulge with the enlarged seeds. Pods must still be green, not yellowish.

Corn, sweet - Silks begin to turn brown and dry out as the ears mature. Check a few ears for maturity by opening the top of the ear and pressing a few kernels with a thumbnail. If the liquid exuded is milky rather than clear, the ear is ready for harvest. Harvest ranges from 18 to 21 days after the silk appears.

Cucumbers - Harvest when the fruits are deep green, before any yellow color appears. The length should be 2 to 3 inches for sweet pickles, 5 to 6 inches for dill pickles, and 6 to 8 inches for slicing. Pick 4 to 5 times per week to encourage continuous production. Mature cucumbers left on the vine will stop production of the entire plant.

Eggplant - Harvest when the fruits are 3 to 5 inches in diameter and their color is a glossy purplish black. (A white variety of eggplant is also available.) The fruit is past its prime when the color starts to dull or become bronzed. Because the stem is woody, cut ¾ do not pull ¾ the fruit from the plant. A short stem should remain on each fruit.

Muskmelons (cantaloupe) - Harvest when the stem slips easily from the fruit with a gentle tug. Another indicator of ripeness is when the netting on skin becomes rounded and the flesh between the netting turns from a green to a tan color.

Okra - Harvest young, tender pods when they are 2 to 3 inches long. Pick at least every other day during the peak growing season. Overly mature pods become woody and are too tough to eat.

Peppers -Harvest sweet peppers when the fruits are firm, crisp, and full sized. Green peppers will turn red if left on the plant. Allow hot peppers to attain their bright red color and full flavor while attached to the plant; cut and hang them to dry.

Pumpkins - Harvest pumpkins and winter squash before frost and after the vines dry up, the fruit color darkens, and the skin surface resists puncture from your thumbnail. Avoid bruising or scratching the fruit while handling it. Leave a 3- to 4-inch portion of stem attached to the fruit and store in a cool, dry location with good ventilation.

Squash, summer - Harvest when the fruit is soft, tender, and 6 to 8 inches long (3 to 4 inches across for patty-pans types). The skin color often changes to a dark, glossy green or yellow, depending on variety. Pick every 2 to 3 days to encourage production.

Sweetpotatoes - Harvest the roots when they are large enough for use before frost. Avoid bruising or scratching during handling. (Damaged sweetpotatoes rot easily in storage.) Ideal storage conditions are a temperature of 55?F and a relative humidity of 85%. The basement or crawl space of a house may suffice.

Tomatoes - Harvest the fruits at the most appealing ripeness stage ¾ up to fully red-ripe. (There are some yellow tomato cultivars.) Flavor is best at room temperature, but ripe fruit may be held in the refrigerator at 45?F to 50?F for 7 to 10 days.

Watermelons - Ripe watermelons produce a dull thud rather than a sharp, metallic sound when thumped. Other ripeness indicators are a deep yellow ¾ rather than white ¾ color where the melon touches the ground, brown tendrils on the stem near the fruit, and a rough, slightly ridged feel to the skin surface.

For more gardening information contact the Wilson Master Gardeners Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 1-3 PM or via email at wilsonmastergardener@hotmail.com.

Date Created: 10/22/2004.