Garden Tips~

  It's that time in the season. The time we have excitedly been waiting for.

Yes, it is time for harvesting in the garden.

Here are a few tips for growing and harvesting a few of my favorite garden goods.

Potatoes 

 After completely failing to grow a single potato last fall, we had a full harvest this season. I can not tell you how exciting it was the first day we revealed the red potatoes that were waiting for us under each plant.

Potatoes can be planted as soon as the ground can be worked in the early spring.

They will not begin to grow until the soil temperature has reached 45 degrees F.

 Potatoes can tolerate a light frost, but you should provide some frost-protection for the plants when they are young. This can be a loose covering of straw, or a temporary plastic tent.

    Potatoes require full sun to grow. They are aggressively rooting plants,and will produce best when planted in a light, loose, evenly moist soil. 

     To avoid stabbing when harvesting, begin digging about one foot out on either side of the center of the row. We used a four tined spading fork.

    Early potatoes are not as long lasting in storage as later varieties. Dig only enough for a few days use in the kitchen unless you want to use the potato row for another crop. After harvesting, leave the root vegetables sitting on top of the soil for several hours to allow them to dry thoroughly. Then put the produce in burlap or mesh bags and store in a cool, dark place. If the harvested potatoes are left in the light for even a few days, the skins may turn green.

Green potato skins are considered inedible.

 If your potato crop is too near the surface and turning green several weeks before harvesting potatoes is scheduled, hill some soil up around the plants and add mulch or a thick layer of straw to cover the spuds.

After two or three weeks the green potato skins should turn brown and be ready for harvest. 

 Stored unwashed.

The best storage temperature is 40 to 50

 

                                                      Tomatoes

If you are starting tomatoes from seed, be sure to give the seedlings room to branch out. Close conditions inhibit their growth, so transplant them as soon as they get their first true leaves.

Tomato seedlings will need strong direct sunlight. Or grow lights. Plant your tomatoes outside in the sunniest part of your vegetable plot.

Tomatoes develop roots all along their stems.

Tomatoes love the heat.

Once the tomato plants are about 3' tall, remove the leaves from the bottom 1' of stem. These are usually the first leaves to develop fungus problems.

Pinch and remove suckers that develop in the joint of two branches. They won’t bear fruit and will take energy away from the rest of the plant.

Water deeply and regularly while the plants are developing. Once the fruit begins to ripen, lessening the water will coax the plant into concentrating its sugars. Don’t withhold water so much that the plants wilt and become stressed or they will drop their blossoms and possibly their fruit.

When to pick: Fruit that is fully ripened on the vine has a much fuller flavor than fruits that are picked early and then allowed to ripen. They should be picked at the peak of redness, or even a tad before.

How to store ripe fruit: Wash and dry your tomatoes before storing. Unless you're planning to store your tomatoes for over a week, a windowsill, counter-top or bowl works fine. If you know you won't use them in the next few days, then lower temperatures (a cool entryway, the refrigerator) will help preserve the fruit.

• canning, which will preserve your tomatoes for a year or more;
• freezing, which can be used for up to eight months;
• drying, which can keep tomatoes for more than a year.

Squash

Squash can be started indoors 3 to 4 weeks prior to the planting date.

As with other vine-growing crops, squash prefers heat.

Summer and winter squash are commonly planted in hills about 1 inch deep.

Summer and winter squash grow best in fertile, well-drained soil  in areas of full sun.

 Check daily when harvesting as these crops grow quickly, especially in hot weather. You should harvest squash frequently to encourage more production and pick the fruits while still small. Squash that is overly ripe becomes hard, seedy, and loses its flavor.

Summer squash can be stored cool, moist areas up to two weeks. They may also be canned or frozen.

Okra

Okra is a warm season crop. Growing okra requires a lot of sunshine so you should find a place in your garden that does not get much shade. Also, when planting okra you want to be sure there is good drainage in your garden.

Make sure when planting okra you are prepared to water them every seven to ten days. They can handle dry conditions, but the water is definitely helpful.

You will find that when growing okra, the okra will be ready for harvest in about two months from the moment you plant them.
After harvesting okra, you can store them in the refrigerator for later use.
I also freeze them.