Harvest tomatoes when the skin is slightly firm, shiny, and uniformly colored for the best flavor. As a tomato ripens it will turn from a vibrant medium-green to a lighter shade, with faint pink or yellow stripes or flushing. Later the skin will mature to a uniform red or pink or yellow or white or
There are two ways to eat melon: at the beginning of a meal as an hors d’oeuvre or starter for savory dishes or at the end as a dessert fruit. The high water content of melons makes them refreshing especially during hot summer weather, but because they are so high in water content they are
Acorn Squash Winter squashes are the most plentiful from early autumn until late winter. Unlike the summer squashes, the winter squashes must be cooked before they are eaten. Add winter squash to soups, stews, couscous, and curries. Use winter squash to make pies, cakes, muffins, cookies, pudding, soufflés, and cream desserts. Choose a winter squash—such
The stalks of lemongrass are commonly used in the kitchen. Lemongrass is a subtropical plant. Lemongrass is flavorful fresh rather than dry. It is popular in Southeast Asian cookery. It can be used to season soups, vegetables, curries, poultry, shellfish, fish, and marinades. Use lemongrass to make herbal teas. Lemongrass is a member of the
Microgreens are leafy vegetables that are harvested very young—after the cotyledon or seed leaves have developed with one set of small true leaves. Leafy vegetables grown as microgreens include arugula, beets, cabbage, chard, cress, kale, mustard, and radish. Microgreens are grown for the flavor, texture, and nutrition they can add to salads, soups, sandwiches, and
Fennel roasted with Parmesan crumbs. For a light delicate taste reminiscent of licorice and anise, choose Florence fennel. Florence fennel–which is also known as bulb fennel and in Italy as finnochio—is a pale-green, feathery-topped vegetable, with celery-like stems and swollen bulb-like base of overlapping broad layers. The harvest season for this cool-weather vegetable is early
Harvest parsnips in autumn and winter. Where the ground freezes hard in winter, harvest parsnips before the freeze. Where the ground does not freeze, parsnips can be harvested from the garden as needed. Parsnips overwintered should all be lifted before new growth begins in spring. When to Harvest Parsnips Parsnips are ready for lifting 100
Bean sprouts Direct sow beans in the garden 1 to 2 weeks after the last expected frost when the soil has warmed to at least 60°F (16°C). Start beans indoors 3 to 2 weeks before transplanting to the garden. • Bush beans are usually determinate with one week or two week period of harvest; bush
Preparing to plant beans in soil enriched with aged compost and fertilizer will give beans a good home to grow quickly and yield well. You can prepare a planting bed for beans wherever the soil is workable. Pole and runner beans and lima and broad beans will grow well in soil too poor for most
Your bean harvest time will depend on what you plan to do with the beans after picking. Snap beans or green beans harvest: Green beans are ready for harvest when they are about the size of pencil. The seeds inside will be just visible–they’ll look like small bumps. Depending on the variety you have planted
