Harvesting Tomatoes and Other Summer Vegetables
This time of year is always fun at my farm because there’s so much to harvest in the vegetable garden.
It's important to check the garden every other day - one never knows what will be ready for picking. Yesterday, we picked okra, eggplants, cucumbers, artichokes, corn and trays and trays of delicious, juicy tomatoes. I always look forward to having farm-grown produce to use in my summer cooking and in salads.
Enjoy these photos.
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- At long last, our tomatoes are ready! We grow about 100 tomato every year. Most tomato plant varieties need between 50 and 90 days to mature. My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, harvested many, many wonderful tomatoes over the last few days.
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- And the time goes quickly. Here are the tomato plants in early July when they were barely knee-high.
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- They grew several more inches by mid-July. This is when the plants were staked with tall bamboo poles to give the growing vines more support.
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- In early August, gorgeous green fruits began to grow.
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- Everything was well-supported by the bamboo and strong netting I saved from the old deer fencing that once surrounded the farm. I save everything I feel can be reused, and because these structures are outdoors, it is important that they are strong and secure, so they could hold the weight of the plants and fruits, and any strong winds we may get during the growing season. This netting works perfectly. Another key to keeping a rich vegetable garden is to rotate the tomato bed between a few spots in the garden every year to diminish the risk of soil-borne diseases such as bacterial spot and early blight.
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- The vining branches are also secured to the net and bamboo stakes using jute twine.
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- So many of the tomatoes are now ripe for the picking. Tomatoes are heat loving plants, so all the hot weather we’ve had has really helped our crops – the tomato vines are laden with fruit. These are ‘Pink Ponderosa’ tomatoes – an indeterminate heirloom variety, rich, thick, and meaty. These are delicious sliced or canned.
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- Tomatoes are an excellent source of beta-carotene, vitamins C and K, calcium, potassium, folate, and of course – lycopene. This variety is called ‘Moskvich’ which fruits early and ripens o a deep red. Rich in flavor, these are also good sized at about four to six ounces per tomato.
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- ‘Polbig’ has red, meaty, six to eight ounce globe shaped fruit. These will be ready in a couple more days. It’s always a good idea to grow a range of varieties, including at least one or two disease-resistant types, since, of all veggies, tomatoes tend to be the most susceptible to disease. And be sure to grow the right types for your area.
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- And these are ‘Big Beef.’ These tomatoes are perfect for slicing and adding to sandwiches. So many gorgeous tomatoes – all of them still suspended on the vine and looking perfect.
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- Planting can also be staggered to produce early, mid, and late-season tomato harvests. These are called ‘Wisconsin 55’ – refreshing, scarlet-red, round, mid-size slicing tomatoes.
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- These tomatoes start off dark purple and ripen to a dull purple-brown. The inside will be a pretty red-orange. Another clue is that the bottom of the fruit, which often remains green, since sunlight doesn’t reach it, will turn red. And, like other tomatoes, these fruits will soften a bit when ready to pick.
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- We’ll be harvesting tomatoes for a couple of weeks – a little bit every couple of days.
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- Ryan also harvested several eggplants. I prefer to pick them when they are smaller – this one is perfect. And look at its color – an almost gray variety.
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- Pick eggplants when they are young and tender. Picking a little early will encourage the plant to grow more, and will help to extend the growing season.
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- I love okra, but for some, okra is too slimy when cooked. Okra is very healthy, however – it’s high in fiber, vitamin-C and full of antioxidants, so give it try!
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- Okra or Okro, Abelmoschus esculentus, known in many English-speaking countries as ladies’ fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. Okra flowers begin to appear 50 to 60 days after planting.
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- Harvest okra when they are still small, about three-inches long. A common mistake is harvesting the pods when they are six to eight inches long, when most will have a woody taste.
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- Corn is ready for harvest about 20 days after the silk first appears. At harvest time, the silk turns brown, but the husks are still green. Each stalk should have at least one ear near the top. And make sure it is in the “milk stage.” Puncture a kernel and look for milky liquid inside. If it’s clear, the kernels aren’t quite ready. If there is no liquid, you’ve waited too long. Ryan harvested a bucket of corn on the cob – these look excellent.
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- Here’s a tray of tomatoes and a few artichokes. The globe artichoke, Cynara scolymus, is popular in both Europe and the United States. Artichokes are actually flower buds, which are eaten when they are tender.
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- We also harvested an entire bucket of cucumbers. Cucumbers require a long growing season, and most are ready for harvest in 50 to 70 days from planting. The fruits ripen at different times on the vine, but it is essential to pick them when they are ready. If they are left on the vine too long, they tend to taste bitter.
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- Many of the tomatoes are eaten fresh and used for sandwiches and salads. Every summer, I also save lots of tomatoes to make homemade juice and sauce. Not only are they delicious and nutritious, but they can be stored in containers in the freezer for any time the craving hits.
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- Everything is brought into my Winter House kitchen and placed neatly on the counter. What a gorgeous bounty of beautiful produce. What shall I eat first?
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