Harvesting is such fun after a summer of working on the garden. Here are a few things you may have in your garden and some tips on harvesting them.
Onions - Harvest onions when the tops fall over. Lay them out on newspaper and let the tops dry out. Once the tops and roots are dried up, you can snip them off and store in paper bags with the tops rolled down. Do not store them in plastic.
Garlic - Harvest when 3 leaves have died back. In my garden, that can be as early as mid-July.The thing to know about garlic is that each leaf goes all the way down and covers the whole bulb. If you let too many leaves die back before you harvest, the individual cloves may separate while you are harvesting. Wait longer yet and the cloves will admit moisture and the cloves may mildew. Many people tie groups of bulbs together and hang them. I just spread them out on newspaper. Once the roots, tops and skins are dry, you can cut off the tops and roots and store them in closed paper bags. Save the largest cloves to replant. I find that garlic keeps longer in individual cloves rather than left in bulbs.
Learn how to plant Garlic - the proper time is in the fall !!
Melons - When melons approach ripeness, the stems close to the melon will begin to wither and die. The color of the melon usually lightens somewhat as it ripens. Save the seeds for the chickens!
Zucchini - Can be picked at any time, but have the best flavor and texture when they are small. Larger squash can be stuffed with a variety of rice, meat or bread stuffings. Pick zucchini as regularly as possible. When they have produced mature seeds, they will stop making squash. If this happens, cut the oversized squash from the plant and it will start flowering again in a week or so. Oversized zucchini make great chicken treats. They will drill a hole in the side and devour them seeds and all.
Do you know why Vermonters always lock their cars when they go to church on Sunday? Otherwise, they will come back after services and find their back seat full of zucchini.
Parsnips gain their sweet flavor from resting over winter in the frozen ground. Boil them until just tender then fry them in butter until browned for a delicious late winter fresh meal of vegetables.
Cabbage need to be picked before they split open. If you see one begin to split, pick it now. They are ready to pick when they feel tight and firm.
Asparagus begins to grow in the spring and can be harvested until mid July. At that time, allow them to grow into their beautiful fern shape. This replenishes their root system for next year. Always cut below ground level to limit insect and disease damage and to promote new shoot growth. Pick the red berries that grow in fall and let them dry out on a paper towel. Plant them in late winter for spring transplanting. It will take years for them to amount to much, but it is fun to propagate them. After they have made berries, you can cut the stalks down. I like to leave them so the birds can have the berries. And it helps me locate the bed precisely before the plants begin to emerge.
Rhubarb - pick rhubarb all spring until mid july when the plants need to be left to recover and grow. Cut off flower stalks if they emerge as they take a lot of energy from the plant. To harvest rhubarb, hold the stalk low to the ground and pull it up and out to harvest it. This removes the stalk completely without leaving an opening for insects and disease. Cut the leaf off and use it to mulch the plant. Never eat the leaves or feed them to your animals. The green portions of rhubarb are poisonous.
Basil thrives on being harvested. The more you clip, the more it grows. Keep it thinned out to help prevent disease to which it can be prone. Chop basil in the food processor with a little oil if needed. Freeze in trays or small jars and make pesto later or use as fresh.
Tomatoes pick them as they ripen right up until frost is threatened. Then cover the plants to lengthen the harvest or pick them unripe and ripen indoors. If it weren’t for the cold, the tomatoes would keep on fruiting until the end of time.
Because the flavor is so much better when they are ripened on the vine, I cover them each night until the temperature begins to threaten to drop to or below 30 degrees. Or let’s face it, until I get sick of the chore. Then I pick any that are starting to ripen and let them ripen indoors. The green ones will ripen eventually. I have noticed that green tomatoes that have not reached a mature size, however, will wilt before they ripen and be substandard in every way. Any tomatoes that are damaged will rot before they will ripen. And you’ll have a houseful of fruit flies for your trouble.
Winter Squash - Waiting until after the first frost will help your squashes to harden their skins. Cut the stem off close to the vine. Don’t let them freeze, however, as the frozen spots can spoil. Cut the stems close to or at the vine. With some varieties, you can twist them off. A set of pruners can be helpful. Do not carry squashed by the stem. If it breaks off, the squash will rot there. Let the squashes dry in a cool dark room without a lot of light. Make sure they are on an absorbent surface, such as newspaper or a drop cloth. Leave a few inches between them for good air circulation. When the stems are all dried up, store them in a cool room out of sunlight. By mid winter, they may begin to have soft spots. Cut them away generously. Roast and scoop the flesh. Or cut into wedges, peel the squash and pack it into freezer boxes.
Carrots Harvest your carrots all summer long and into the fall and even winter. As a biennial, carrots will grow a second year, flower and make seeds. If you are going to eat them, dig the remaining ones before they get leaves. The taste and texture will deteriorate rapidly. Harvest time with carrots is also time to diagnose their growth. Carrots don’t like crowding, either from other carrots or from weeds.
Once the harvest is done, there are quite a few fall chores remaining. Here in Vermont, many plants around the homestead are more successful with a little protection.
Joyce Talks with WCAX about fall care of fruit trees
If areas of your garden have become overrun with weeds, it is best to either:
Pull and compost them - this gets any seeds out of the garden
OR
Mow them down if you just don’t have the time or energy to pull them. The snow and moist soil will decompose the weeds by the time you are ready to prepare your beds in spring.
Weeds left standing will remain intact over winter and be in the way when it is time to prepare beds
Some plant material hosts disease over winter. Remove tomato, pepper, potato plants from the garden and place in the compost.
Some garden plants return in the spring. Learn how to care for rhubarb here.
Mulch the soil to prevent erosion and to feed and protect the biological activity in the soil.
I like to take unneeded fences down as the wire seems to last longer this way. I do keep electric fence around my buildings and my bee hive to protect from the neighborhood black bear.
Some plants bear seed heads which are wonderful food sources for birds over winter. Leave flower gardens and other seeded plants over winter. Cut them down in early spring to allow fresh growth to emerge easily. Bee balm is one of the plants I leave for the birds.
In areas where they are not problematic, leave the leaves on the ground. They provide overwintering places for beneficial insects. Where they are problematic, rake them up or mow them with a bagging mower and put them on the garden. They make great mulch.
Wait, I thought you just said “Don’t mow.”
Well, I did. But do mow around buildings and your garden and all areas that are overgrown around your garden. Good garden hygiene helps to keep voles and woodchucks from feeling secure in prowling your garden in fall and early spring.
Johnny's Seeds is my personal favorite, as is their online newsletter.
https://www.vermontwildflowerfarm.com/ Don’t offer a print catalog, but their online catalog is great!
https://www.rareseeds.com/requestcat/catalog
Do you have a favorite seed catalog? We would love to know.
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