Harvesting Celery, Okra, Beets, and More
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, there are still so many fresh, organic vegetables to pick and enjoy.
Many of you often ask what I do with all the many vegetables I grow. Most of them are shared with my daughter, Alexis, and her children, Jude and Truman – they love all vegetables. I also share them with friends and use them in dishes for my own gatherings. Some are put aside for various media shoots or for testing recipes here at my farm. Nothing is ever wasted – whatever isn’t used goes to my beloved chickens, geese, and peafowl. This week, I also picked some delicious fruits.
Enjoy these photos.
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- My vegetable garden continues to provide bounties of fresh, nutritious vegetables. And, since we practice succession gardening, we are always able to pick something.
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- Beets are usually ready to harvest 50 to 70 days after planting, when they are about the size of a golf ball.
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- The edamame is also growing abundantly. If you’re not familiar, edamame is the same soybean that makes tofu. Eaten as beans, they taste a bit like peas and are buttery with a hint of sweetness and nuttiness.
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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! Okra or Okro, Abelmoschus esculentus, known in many English-speaking countries as ladies’ fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family.
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- I grow both green and red okra, but there is not much different between the two except for color.
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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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- 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 important to pick them when they are ready. If they are left on the vine too long, they tend to taste bitter. I prefer small to medium sized cucumbers.
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- I also got a big bag of hot peppers, but be sure to keep them separated from the sweet peppers, so there is no confusion in the kitchen.
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- The most common sweet pepper is the bell – usually seen in green, red, and yellow, but they can also be purple, brown, and orange. It’s a great pepper season – I’ve picked a lot this year.
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- This is some of the best celery I’ve ever grown – so bold in color. Celery is ready to harvest when the lower stalks are at least six inches long and the upper stalks are at least 18 inches long. And the stalks should still be close together, forming a compact bunch or cone at the bottom.
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- The celery leaves are also edible and have a strong celery taste.
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- Swiss chard always stands out in the garden, with its rich red, orange, and yellow stalks. These are not ready just yet.
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- We picked a lot of egg plants last week, but there will be more to harvest again soon. It is good to pick eggplants when they are young and tender. Try to pick a little early, which will encourage the plant to grow more, and will help to extend the growing season.
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- These are pimenta Biquinho peppers – round and little with a distinctive, tapered point or tail that resembles a birds beak. They can be either scarlet-red or sunshine-yellow. They have a mild heat. I try to pickle some every year.
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- Look at my onions. These will be picked later and then cured in a warm, dry, well-ventilated location for two to three weeks until the onion tops and necks are thoroughly dry and the outer bulb scales begin to rustle. Onions are ready when the long leaves start to flop over and brown. This signals the plants have stopped growing and are beginning to prepare for storage.
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- And the pumpkins are growing! What a difference a few days make.
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- I hope we have an abundance of big, beautiful pumpkins this year. Many will be ready in just a few weeks.
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- This time of year, I also check the orchard trees often to see if any fruits are ripe for picking. We harvested several trays of peaches not too long ago, but there are a few more that are ready.
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- I planted several types of Asian pear, Pyrus pyrifolia, which is native to East Asia. My trees include Hosui, Niitaka, Shinko, and Shinseiko. Asian pears have a high water content and a crisp, grainy texture, which is very different from the European varieties. They are most commonly served raw and peeled. Some of these are ready for picking.
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- The other pears in this orchard are ‘Bartlett’, ‘Columbia’, ‘D’Amalis’, ‘Ginnybrook’, ‘McLaughlin’, ‘Nova’, ‘Patten’, ‘Seckel’, ‘Stacyville’, and ‘Washington State’. The pear trees, and all the other fruit trees in this orchard are planted in full sun, with good air circulation and well-drained soil.
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- It’s great to have fresh, organic, juicy, sweet fruits and nutritious vegetables growing in the garden. What are you harvesting this week?
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