Harvesting - Part 2

Harvesting - Part 2

Knowing when your crops are ready to harvest will ensure you have tasty fruits and vegetables in your kitchen. In this lesson, I'll show you what to look out for when harvesting your summer crops.

When August rolls around it is time to harvest the main bulk of your tomatoes. As harvest time approaches I begin to reduce watering to once a week.

Reducing watering concentrates the flavour of the tomatoes and prevents them from getting that watery flavour that I'm sure you've tasted in tomatoes before.

Ways of Harvesting Your Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes

As cherry tomatoes are small and light, it is easy to simply click them off the plant individually once they have ripened. Where the cherry tomato joins the branch you will see an elbow, simply bend this and they will come away.

Large tomatoes

Larger varieties of tomato tend to be heavier so it's a good idea to use a pair of sharp snips or secateurs to cut them off the plant to avoid damaging it. Snip them off just above the calyx.

Use harvesting time as an opportunity to remove the lower leaves from around your tomatoes too. This will create better airflow for your fruit and also help them get more direct sunlight, which will help them to ripen.

How to Know When Your Tomatoes Are Ready for Harvest

When you are checking whether your tomatoes are ready to harvest, there are two things you want to assess. With classic red tomatoes, you want to ensure your tomato is red throughout with no green patches remaining.

With heirloom varieties, however, the colour may not be as bright so you can also do a squeeze test. Here, you're looking for a bit of give in your tomato which will tell you that it is fully ripe and ready to go.

The Cucurbit Bed

While my tomato patch has been thriving this year, sadly my cucurbits have been ravaged by moles. These little creatures have damaged the root systems of the plants so they have yet to produce any harvestable fruit.

To try and revive them I am watering them regularly and feeding them with organic seaweed feed once a week.

To harvest courgettes, use a pair of secateurs to cut them off where the stem meets the plant.

Harvesting the Beans

Harvesting beans is very similar to harvesting peas. Cut the bean off the plant with a pair of snips just above the top of the pod.

The more you harvest your beans the more fruit you will get, so make sure to check your plants regularly as at the height of the season, beans can grow quite rapidly. Make sure to check under leaves too, as green beans can be well camouflaged amongst your foliage.

Harvesting Mauritian Cucumbers and Aubergines

To harvest cucumbers and aubergines, cut just above the calyx of the fruit with a pair of sharp secateurs.