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Growing fruits, vegetables, and herbs in your kitchen garden is a great way to add fresh and healthy produce to your pantry. Whether you’re planting in a big backyard or in containers placed on your terrace, picking up herbs, fruits, and veggies you grew with your own hands is unbeatable. If you have already started planting your favourite seeds in your home garden, you must be waiting to harvest the fresh produce.
But before you pick up your tools to harvest, there are certain things you need to keep in mind. From choosing the right time to harvest to making sure that you’re storing the produce correctly, here are some tips that can ensure that your vegetables stay fresh and nutritious for as long as possible. So, follow these tips and maximise your home garden’s yield.
Time Of Harvesting
Knowing when to harvest the fresh produce of your home garden can be a game changer. Not only will it decrease the amount of rotten fruits and vegetables, but it will also help to ensure that you get the best flavour and increase longevity. For example, when picking fruits, gently twist them off the wine and allow the slightly under-ripe ones to ripen indoors. For vegetables, it is best to harvest in the morning before sunrise to prevent wilting.
Use The Right Tools
If you use the right tools to harvest the garden produce, you will do minimal damage and prevent spoilage. Here are some tools you can use:
Sharp Pruners: For fresh tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, use sharp pruners which can give you clean cuts and reduce the risk of infections.
Garden Shears: If you are harvesting green leafy vegetables like spinach or herbs, to get clean cutting, use garden shears. They will ensure that the greens are not torn or bruised and thus last long.
Digging Forks: While harvesting root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and radishes, always use a digging fork to lift the soil and then remove the vegetables.
Cooling And Washing
Once you have harvested the produce, cooling and washing are important to maintain the freshness. Pre-cooling by running the fruits and vegetables under cold water, or placing them in a cool spot can help reduce their temperature, thus increasing the shelf life. Then, you can get rid of the dirt by soaking the fruits and vegetables in cold water. Dry them before you store them to reduce the risk of rotten produce.
Proper Storage
How you store the fruits and veggies will highly impact the quality and freshness of the produce. As a thumb rule, you can store leafy vegetables and root vegetables in a cold and moist environment. You can wrap them in paper towels and then store them in a crisper drawer. For fruits like tomatoes, melons, or even avocados, you can store them in a cool place and only transfer them to a refrigerator if necessary.
Preservation
Finally, techniques like freezing, canning, and drying can further help extend the shelf life of the harvest of your home garden. You can choose to freeze veggies like peas, beans, and carrots to protect their texture and colour. After harvesting fruits like tomatoes, apples, cucumber, etc, can them and then refrigerate. Similarly, for herbs, you can dry them and then add them to your dishes all year round.
