Ok, now that you are ready to pick those gorgeous nutrion packed vegetables straight from the garden how can you be sure to get the most from your harvest?
This handy guide for harvesting vegetables at their peak of freshness comes straight from the UF Extension Office:
• Asparagus: Harvest when spears are 6 to 9 inches tall.
• Snap beans: Harvest while pods still are smooth.
• Lima Beans: Harvest when pods are full but seeds are green.
• Beets: Harvest when 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter.
• Broccoli: Harvest before flowers show yellow color. Remove the center head, and allow side shoots to form and harvest them.
• Cantaloupe: Harvest when melons can be removed from the vine without pressure.
• Cabbage: Harvest when head is firm and heavy.
• Cauliflower: Harvest before curd loosens and discolors. After head is removed, discard
the plant.
the plant.
• Carrots: Harvest anytime roots are firm and brittle.
• Corn: Harvest when kernel juice is milk-like in color, silk begins to dry and ears are full to end.
• Cucumbers: Harvest while seeds are small, flesh if firm and color is green.
• Eggplant: Harvest before color begins to dull, firm to touch.
• Lettuce: Harvest while tender and milk-flavored before seed stalk begins to form.
• Okra: Harvest when pods are 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches long.
• Onions: For green bunching, harvest when bulbs are 3/8 to 1 inch in diameter. For storing, harvest after tops have died down.
• English peas: Harvest after the pods have filled out before they turn yellow.
• Sugar snap peas: Harvest after pods form but before yellowing.
• Southern peas: For fresh or frozen use, harvest when pods shell easily. For drying, harvest after
pods are dry and brittle.
pods are dry and brittle.
• Pumpkins: Harvest after they are full size.
• Bell pepper: Harvest when pods are full size and firm.
• Hot peppers: Harvest after pods reach full size.
• Irish potatoes: For fresh use, harvest after tubers are 1 inch in diameter. For storage, harvest after vines have died down.
• Sweet potatoes: Harvest after reaching desired size but before frost or cold weather, about 120 days from planting to harvest.
• Radish: Harvest while firm and brilliantly colored.
• Summer squash: Harvest when large end is 1 to 2 1/4 inches in diameter.
• Winter squash: Harvest when rind is not easily dented by fingernail.
• Swiss chard: Harvest while leaves are crisp and dark green.
• Spinach: Harvest while leaves are crisp and dark green.
• Tomatoes: Harvest when full colored but still firm.
• Turnip greens: Harvest while leaves are crisp and green.
• Turnip roots: Harvest when 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches in diameter.
• Watermelon: Harvest when tendrils die, rind on ground becomes yellow and netting thickens.
03/26/2011
Love looking out my bedroom window and seeing my garden anew every morning! It's coming along great and I do tend to it daily just pulling weeds and checking for insects (you know, the ones that eat my plants..not the ones that eat the bad insects :-).
Here is what's sprouting in my world:
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| Dragon Tongue Beans |
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| Radishes and Zuchinni |
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| Squash and white onions |
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| Broccoli |
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| Cauliflower, Eggplant, Cucumbers, Leeks and Swiss Chard |
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| Celery |
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| Bibb Lettuce |
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| Watermelon |
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| Tomatoes, Peppers, Onions, Lettuce, Parsley and Garlic |
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| Yellow Onions |
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| Cantaloupe |
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| Purple Potatoes |
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| Corn |
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| Overview of Garden |
03/25/2011
Easiest To Grow Vegetables
So, you want to plant a garden but it's your first time and you just aren't sure where to start or what to plant. Here are a few suggestions to help make your first garden experience a success!
Stick with easy to grow vegetables that grow well in minimally cared for soil. After all, you can improve the soil over time..as you gain experience.
I live in Florida and I've already started my outdoor garden. However, the rule of thumb is to start about four weeks before your last frost.
In early spring you can kick off by planting salad mixes, like mesculin and perhaps another blend with some mustard greens to really spice up your salad bowl! Plant them in small batches and about three weeks later begin another batch and continue this process to ensure a continuous crop of lettuce on hand. You can even save some of your seed to plant toward the end of summer for a nice fall crop as well.
Herbs are a fantastic addition to any garden and I strongly recommend them. If you've never experienced fresh basil with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella...you are totally missing out! Plant herbs such as basil, sage and thyme. Sage and thyme are perennials and they come back each year.
Potatoes are easy to grow and you can plant just a couple of potato plants in your first garden and get a great harvest from it. You can even plant potatoes in a large (very large) flower/tree pot.
In late spring you can continue adding more vegetables to your garden in the way of bush beans or pole beans. Beans adapt very well to all soils, thus making it a great vegetable for a first time gardener.
Tomatoes are fantastic! Always a welcome addition to the garden. However, if this is your first garden try and stick with just two varieties like Early Girl or Sun Gold or even Cherry Tomatoes. Next year when you have improved your soil then you can go tomato crazy and plant some large heirloom types!
Summer squash is always a plus in the garden and seem to be very productive. You should plant about three plants to ensure great fruit set and pollination.
As late summer approaches, plant more lettuce mix, turnips and maybe even some arugula..they will continue to grow great until winter shows itself and brings your first garden to it's seasons end.
Good Luck!
03/07/2011
WINNER IS: NATAWSHA W. from OHIO!
We are on the down side of winter and spring is in the air!
In the spirit of spring gardening here is your chance to win a copy of the book called "Grocery Gardening" by Jean Ann Van Krevelen.
The book is about planting, preparing and preserving fresh food.
Inside this book you will find information on how to plant, preserve and prepare food that involves more than 25 herbs, fruits and vegetables.
There is a helpful chapter on preserving the harvest, with tips for freezing, drying, canning and preserving.
The book also includes some easy and delicious recipes that highlight the season's produce.
Enter to Win by:
Leaving a comment at the bottom of this page telling me you want to enter to win the Grocery Gardening book and click the facebook page in the upper right corner of this blog. (Scroll clear to the bottom of the page to leave your comment).
Contest will run from March 7th through March 14th. Winner will be announced morning of the 15th.
Good Luck!
03/06/2011
What a beautiful day it was here in Middleburg Florida! The garden was just screaming to be planted...and so it was :-).
We planted corn about five days ago and today we planted potatoes, various lettuce, yellow and white onions, garlice, swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, various radishes, various tomatoes, various peppers, various carrots, cabbage, celery, beets, egg plant, squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, cucumbers, parsley, some marigolds, flashbacks, nastriums and sunflowers.
What are you planting in your garden?
Leave a comment below and let us know
2/26/2011
Let's Talk Seeds - Are they all created equal?
Ok, so it's warmer outside and I don't know about you but all I can think about is gardening! Every time I turn around I have one of those lovely seed catalogs in the mail and oh how I love looking through them. Can't get my mind off of them....they just seem to call out my name, even though I already have my seeds for this years gardening. If they had one of those 12 step programs for vegetable seeds, I'd be a perfect candidate. The descriptions in each catalog makes every plant irresistible, making me want to plant them all!
However, after many mistakes and mishaps the past couple years....I took my seed searching very serious this year :-), hoping it will greatly enhance my success.
Here is a list of my favorite seed sources:
Baker creek–specializes in heirloom seeds. Looking through the varieties that they have available is a lot of fun, their catalog is simply BEAUTIFUL. This is where I purchased 95% of my seeds this year.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds–these guys have been around FOREVER and are a long-standing staple in vegetable garden seeds, herbs, flowers and other supplies. Their full catalog is available online and has very helpful information.
Seeds of Change–specializes in organic seed and has some native seeds. They sell some varieties that I haven’t found elsewhere.
Seed Savers Exchange–specializes in rare or heirloom garden seeds.
Stokes Seeds–is another staple in vegetable garden seeds.
There are so many hybrids out there these days and to me it just doesn't seem right to alter a plants genetics and then eat it. I think Andy Rooney said it best: "The federal government has sponsored research that has produced a tomato that is perfect in every respect, except that you can't eat it. We should make every effort to make sure this disease, often referred to as 'progress' doesn't spread."
What seed sources do you use?
However, after many mistakes and mishaps the past couple years....I took my seed searching very serious this year :-), hoping it will greatly enhance my success.
Here is a list of my favorite seed sources:
Baker creek–specializes in heirloom seeds. Looking through the varieties that they have available is a lot of fun, their catalog is simply BEAUTIFUL. This is where I purchased 95% of my seeds this year.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds–these guys have been around FOREVER and are a long-standing staple in vegetable garden seeds, herbs, flowers and other supplies. Their full catalog is available online and has very helpful information.
Seeds of Change–specializes in organic seed and has some native seeds. They sell some varieties that I haven’t found elsewhere.
Seed Savers Exchange–specializes in rare or heirloom garden seeds.
Stokes Seeds–is another staple in vegetable garden seeds.
There are so many hybrids out there these days and to me it just doesn't seem right to alter a plants genetics and then eat it. I think Andy Rooney said it best: "The federal government has sponsored research that has produced a tomato that is perfect in every respect, except that you can't eat it. We should make every effort to make sure this disease, often referred to as 'progress' doesn't spread."
What seed sources do you use?
2/19/2011
Many of our seedlings have sprouted in the greenhouse (which you can view under the Greenhouse update tab) and continue to grow strong until they find their way into the garden once the soil there is ready.
Meanwhile you may be thinking that you would plant a garden if there wasn't so much work involved. Or, maybe your asking yourself where would I plant one? Or maybe even WHAT would I plant?
Here is my answer to all of those thoughts: Start simple. Purchase a large (2 cubic ft) bag of Organic Garden Soil and find a sunny location. Since it's a bag of soil you can put it by the house, by the garage, in the front yard, beside the air conditioner...you get the idea...anywhere you have 2 cubic ft of space and everyone pretty much has that somewhere in their yard. Then, punch/cut several holes in the bottom to allow plant roots to grow through if they need to and to allow water to drain. Then, decide what you are going to plant in this space. Obviously you can't place 50 plants in this small space but you can plant a tomato plant or two, a pepper plant or two, you could even put a cucumber plant at the edge and put up a trellis for it to grow on - there fore taking up practically no space at all and some lettuce....you practically have a SALAD right there!
My suggestion is to plant something you and your family eat regularly. This way you will enjoy it in more ways than one!
Happy Gardening!
1/18/2011
Getting anxious to get vegetables in the ground with the sky high price of organic produce! OMG!! So, the little man and I began some seed planting today.
These plants will germate and stay inside for another good month before we are brave enough to plant outside...not knowing if WINTER is staying or on it's way out :-).
01/06/2011
Today I paid $1.88 for ONE red bell pepper and .89 for ONE cucumber....I cannot wait for the garden to grow!!
If you have never been inspired to plant a garden in the past...perhaps with prices rising in produce and pesticides....maybe this year will be the year.
You don't have to have a large space, for that matter you can plant a few pepper plants or tomato plants, herbs..etc.. in pots on your deck or in the back yard somewhere.
01/01/2011
For the past two years it seems I've tried a garden in just about every spot in my yard and although 2010 was the best producing of them, it still was not a good spot for a garden. I thought I had everything pretty well planned based on experience (or lack of) from previous years but the outcome was not what I expected.
After researching seeds, etc.. I thought I had picked out the ones best suited for the area...but ones that were suppose to do well didn't, etc.. I also thought I had placed the garden in the perfect spot, not to much sun, not to much shade..etc... but I didn't. The greenhouse did better then I had anticipated, but I know this year I will use more effectively, I'm actually in the process of moving it as well...same ole story..thought it was in the perfect spot but in actuality it wasn't getting enough sun for the plants I planted inside...don't get me wrong, my lettuce did fantastic and so did cucumbers and I even had some cabbage do pretty good, but the other vegetables didn't have the right conditions and either were very small in size or got to one point and stopped producing.
With all of this in mind...before giving up on the gardening idea...I have decided to try one last section of the yard! My wonderful husband was so good to get things started for me. The plan is to use the greenhouse and garden space, along with pots to grow vegetables that we like to eat on a daily basis, especially in the summer. That would include lettuce (greenhouse), assorted bell peppers (garden), assorted tomatoes (garden), assorted cucumbers (garden and greenhouse), assorted carrots and radishes (garden and greenhouse), broccoli and cauliflower (garden), cabbage (garden), two different types of beans (garden) celery (garden), pak choy (garden), eggplant (garden), fresh herbs (garden and greenhouse), assorted lettuce mixes (garden and greenhouse) and assorted summer squash (garden). Now I am only planning to plant a couple of each plant at at time, so keep that in mind when you look at my gardening plot. I also plan to use large plant pots as well around the garden and in the greenhouse.
One change I'm excited about making this year is that we have decided to go with strictly Heirloom Seeds (non-hybrid, non-GMO and non-treated) to see if this may make a difference. We took care to choose ones that grow well in clay soil and/or humid climates.
We look forward to updating you in the near future on our progress.
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| Now I can begin getting the soil it tip top condition |
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| Last year - the begining of my tomato and pepper plants |
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