Harvest tomatos first thing in the morning. If you harvest them in
the heat of the day when they're warm, they become mealy as they
cool down. Tomatos will also keep longer if harvested when cool. Do
not refrigerate as this causes a loss of flavor.
In My Garden Blog
Southern California Coastal & Inland Valleys
July 6, 2006
By
Yvonne Savio,
Pasadena, CA
This is what gardening is all about!
Harvest Tips
We're finally tasting the treasures we've worked so hard to grow in the garden. However, some beginning gardeners don't know when to pick their delights, since they've always purchased them at the store. A basic change of perspective is needed. Now that you have the choice of when to harvest, let it be at the perfect moment of ripeness. This is the real payoff to growing your own. You'll bite right into that just-picked tomato, savoring its warmth and flavor, relishing the juice running down your chin.
Here are some clues to helping your plants give you their best:
-- Pinch back herbs to encourage branching, and use the clippings either fresh or dry. Their flavor is at its peak just before flowering. Harvest them early in the morning after the dew has dried but before the day becomes warm and the fragrant oils dissipate. If you can smell them, it's too late; wait till the next day. Dry and store whole herb plants by using drawstring net bags from store-bought apples, onions, and potatoes. Draw the string closed, and hang the bags on hooks. The netting allows air circulation but contains most dry crumbled pieces if the bag is bumped.
-- Place ripening melons onto upside-down aluminum pie pans or cans to keep them off the damp soil. The reflected heat and light will help them ripen evenly and sooner than when they are shaded by foliage.
-- Harvest beans, cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes at least every other day to encourage further production. Once plants have done their reproductive job, they'll quit, so it's up to you to keep their fruits picked so the plants continue producing more blooms to be fertilized.
-- Slip 8-inch sections of old pantyhose over grape clusters, tying the top and bottom with twist-ties or string in a bow. They keep out assorted insects and birds but are easy to remove for harvesting and can be reused each year.
-- If onion and garlic foliage has not yet slumped and dried, stop irrigating, and bend the stalks to the ground. Allow a month or so for them to dry prior to harvest. Avoid bruising the bulbs during harvest, and let them cure in a single layer on slats or screens in a dry, well-ventilated place. They're ready to store when the foliage and outer layers are dry and papery. Store the bulbs in a cool, dry place where air can circulate. Any with soft, thick necks or bulbs that are not thoroughly dried should be used first, as they will spoil in storage. Check the stored batch once a week, and toss or use immediately any that begin to spoil.
-- Preserve peppers as soon as they're harvested. Quick-freeze them by slicing or dicing the whole peppers, spreading the pieces on a cookie sheet, and freezing them. Pack the frozen pieces into larger containers, and use the pieces as desired. They will lose their crispness when they've thawed, but they're fine for recipes to be cooked.
-- To dry chili peppers, pick them when they're deep red, and hang them in a sunny place until they're brittle. To dry other types of peppers, cut the larger ones in half or into pieces, or slit smaller-sized whole ones. Dry them until they're brittle. Store dried peppers in moisture- and vapor-proof containers in a cool, dry, dark place.
-- Once you've had your fill of eating fresh tomatoes, freeze whole ones for cooking later. After slight thawing, cut out the core, and squeeze from the blossom end. The pulp will emerge easily and can be used in any recipe.
-- Make quick, thick tomato sauce with little cooking. Puree whole, unpeeled tomatoes, and freeze the pulp in a narrow-topped container such as a plastic water jug. As it freezes, the clear liquid in the juice will separate and rise to the top of the container. When you're ready to make the sauce, remove the cap and turn the container upside down in a bowl to defrost. The clear liquid will melt before the pulp does, and the longer you allow the liquid to drain, the thicker the sauce remaining in the jug will get. Use this nutrient-rich clear liquid as a soup base.
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Comments on Harvest Tips
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We welcome your questions and comments about this column. If you have gardening questions unrelated to the column, please ask them on our message boards.
Julie Strnad
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Yvonne Savio
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Hi, Julie--
Thanks for your harvet tips for tomatoes! Like tomatoes, melons
benefit from the least-change in temperature from harvest to storage
(or just waiting to eat them)--commercially, they're harvested at
about 5am, since that's the coolest time of night, then go directly
into cool storage all the way to grocery display. The only time
it's best to harvest vegetables and fruits in the heat of the day is
when you're going to eat them immediately!
Jane Ellen
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I finally have gotten tomato plants to grow and set fruit, but why
aren't the tomatoes ripening? They've been hanging there, green and
growing, for 6 weeks, but never ripening. Any ideas?
Yvonne Savio
Hi, Jane--
Oh, how frustrating, to be waiting for that first luscious juicy
bite! Only thought I have is that we've had atypical weather, even
though it's been so hot the last couple of weeks that you'd think
the tomatoes would have ripened more quickly than normal. If the
tomatoes are large varieties, it will take a good 60 days from the
time of setting to harvesting. But if they're still green and not
getting any larger or maturing, I'm stumped. By the way, tomatoes
and other veggies stop blossoming and setting fruit when air
temperatures are above 90, but they'll resume blossoming about 2
weeks after the air temperatures have lowered--so, with this intense
heat we've been having and promises to continue, it'll be a good
while before we get new tomatoes setting!