Time is money - a garden column by Green Thumb
Time is money - at least harvesting at the right time saves you money, as vegetables from the garden taste so much better, and you’re not even tempted to buy them at the store!
Continuing on with the timely discussion of harvesting...
Peppers: Peppers can be perplexing if you are growing new varieties. Some types are best green, some red, some orange. Hot peppers can get hotter if allowed to mature. The basics are that most peppers will turn another color if left on the plant to mature. The peppers are usually sweeter when the color changes. However, if you want lots of peppers, keep them picked in a green state, because as the peppers ripen, they tell the plant to stop producing. Don’t go by size alone on peppers because many conditions will cause the peppers to be smaller or larger. And at the end of the season, pick even the immature ones; they are good too.
Potatoes: New potatoes are those cute little expensive ones at the grocery store. They are sweet and delicious. If you like those wonderful little guys, sneak some out from under your plants, and let the plants keep on putting growth into the other potatoes that remain until you harvest when the plants die back.
Rhubarb: I love rhubarb! New to growing rhubarb, I kept waiting for all the stems to turn bright red, like they look in my favorite pie! But the variety I planted doesn’t really turn red. I finally figured out that you can pick it any time you like, best when stalks are large, but not old.
Spinach: Leaves can be stolen when you want to use them, or you can cut the whole plant. If cut with scissors an inch or so above the ground, the plants may come back with additional growth.
Summer Squash: One of my friends used to use the maxim, “the bigger, the better” when it came to picking squash. Not so! Squash has the best flavor when small, maybe fie or so inches for zucchini and yellow squash, and three inches across for pattypan. Once the squash begin to develop big hard seeds, and look like those gargantuan ones at the fair, the plant begins to turn off because its job of producing seeds is done. But I do like big zucchini stuffed with ground meat, mushrooms and tomato sauce.
Tomatoes: Pick when ripe! Taste in the garden to see exactly when each variety is sweet and juicy. Don’t make the mistake of thinking each variety looks the same color when ripe. Many red varieties are actually better textured when slightly orange, and mushy when deep red. And do pick the green ones before the frost. If they are not rock hard and very dark green, they will ripen in storage, and will also make great Salsa Verde and fried green tomatoes!
Winter Squash: Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow.... Just be sure to pick before a really hard frost in the fall.
As they say, “Timing is everything!” So pick all those wonderful veggies and fruits at just the right moment and enjoy all the peak flavor of the perfect pick!