harvest time for your fruits and vegetables
Select produce by knowing when to harvest each crop.
When vegetables and fruits begin to ripen in your garden, you may ask, "When is harvest time?" The exact month or week to harvest varies by region and growing conditions, but you should always be able to rely on your produce to tell you when it will be picked. Watch for these signs in your vegetable garden about the best time to harvest 9 popular crops, including cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and garlic.
1. Tomatoes
Why are garden-fresh tomatoes so delicious? Their sweet flavor comes from being fully ripened in sunlight. Choose ripe, ripe tomatoes for your plate every time.
When to Harvest Tomatoes: The exact time of tomato season varies by tomato variety, but most are bumper-crop from mid-July to September.
How you know it's ripe: Tomatoes uniformly reach their ripe color (be it red, orange or yellow) and pull easily from the stem.
2. Sweet corn
Corn is a delicious side dish for every backyard barbecue and family gathering. And it doesn't taste better than fresh-picked sweet corn from your garden, especially since the sugars in the corn kernels begin to turn to starch after harvest.
When to harvest corn: A continuous spring seeding of corn is ready to harvest from mid-July to September.
How you know it's ripe: The pulp will turn brown, but not dry. Kernels are formed and filled all the way up. Dimple kernels passed the peak.
3. Cucumbers
You can pick up cool, crunchy cookies in any size, from gherkin size to full size. However, it's best to err on the unripe side, as cucumbers can become perfectly ripe overnight.
When to Harvest Cucumbers: Cucumbers thrive in the heat of summer. With regular harvesting, the vines will continue to produce into early fall.
How you know it's ripe: A small cucumber's spiny, bumpy skin softens. However, smaller cukes are crispier and seedier, making them better for eating and pickling. Most varieties are 2 inches in diameter and 5-8 inches long at the apex.
4. Garlic
Spice up your food with garlic from your garden. This deliciously spicy bulb is worth the nine-month wait between planting and harvest.
When to harvest garlic: Unlike its spring-planted onion cousins, garlic is typically planted in the fall and harvested in late July or the following summer.
How you know it's ripe: The cloves are whole and firm. Once the tops of the plants start to turn brown, dig up a bulb and check. If the cloves are plump and not shriveled, they are ready to harvest.
5. Hot peppers
Some like it hot. Others choose arson. Spice up your plate with some hot peppers. Spicyness varies by variety and degree of maturity.
When to harvest hot peppers: All peppers produce from mid-summer until frost.
How you'll know it's ripe: You'll know the flavor and heat are at their peak when the fruit reaches full size and begins to color. However, most peppers are delicious in any quantity.
6. Onions
Homegrown onions are tops for creating many delicious dishes. It's easy to harvest a year's worth of this kitchen staple from just a few rows.
When to harvest onions: From early summer, depending on the variety.
How you'll know it's ripe: By mid-summer, the skin of a green onion falls off, indicating the onion has reached full size. For young onions, harvest when shoots reach 10-12 inches.
7. Potatoes
Make some extra cheesy potatoes or gratin or garlic mashed potatoes from your own garden. Dig up spuds of any size, from tiny new potatoes to full-sized keepers.
When is harvest season: Potato hills can supply your diet with fresh daily starch from July to October.
How you'll know it's ripe: For mature storage potatoes, harvest when the tops of the plants die back. New potatoes For example, start harvesting the plants two weeks after flowering.
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