Gardeners must learn when it's time to pick produce

MARGARET C. CROOKS, GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

When is produce ready to pick? The first time a gardener grows an edible this can be a mystery. Too early and the fruit or root is bland, too late and it is stringy and lacks sweetness.

Let's start with peas. The English or garden peas that we shell should be picked when the pods are well developed but before they begin to yellow and dry. Pick snap peas when pods are plump. Too late and they will be stringy and need shelling. Snow peas are picked when the peas are the size of small pearls.

Root vegetables, such as carrots and beets, are best picked young because they tend to become woody with age. When the shoulders of the carrots are evident, they can be pulled. Beets can be pulled from about the diameter of a 50-cent piece -- and don't forget to use those tasty greens!

Harvest kohlrabi when bulbs are the size of a small apple. The vegetable can be eaten raw or cooked, and the leaves are edible, too.

Although the first tomatoes are at least a month away, don't rush them. Allow tomatoes to ripen completely on the vine -- no green tops -- for full flavor. Do not store tomatoes in the refrigerator. That kills the flavor.

Pull, don't cut rhubarb. Remove bloom stalks that rob the leaves of nutrients. Compost the toxic leaves. Stop pulling as leaf production slows.

Peppers and eggplant can be picked as young as you please. Peppers can be allowed to ripen to red or white or purple or whatever the mature color may be, when they will be sweeter and easier to digest. Pick the eggplant before the fruit loses its gloss or it will be seedy and coarse-textured.

The cucurbits are the tricky ones. This family encompasses, obviously, cucumbers, but also squash and melons. Cucumbers can be picked from pickle size. If allowed to mature, the standard varieties will be seedy. The "burpless" types are much slower to make seeds, and the new dioecious cultivars are virtually seedless unless a male blossom is nearby.

Summer squash are best picked young, but occasionally we find a baseball bat zucchini hiding under the leaves. These are still good, particularly stuffed.

For the very best flavor from spaghetti squash, treat it as a summer squash, when the skin is easily penetrated with a fingernail. At this point the flavor is at peak and the seeds edible.

Cantaloupes are easy to judge. They are ripe when they slip, that is, the fruit will separate from the vine with a touch. Watermelons are something else. I don't grow them because I don't particularly like them, but I understand they are ripe when the little curlicue at the stem end turns brown.

My grandfather was a melon thumper and could tell by the tone whether a watermelon or honeydew was ripe. If the thump produces a dull thud, it is not ready. The tone should be higher pitched with a slightly hollow sound. Don't press the stem end of a melon looking for ripeness. Not only is it ineffective, it causes the stem end to rot.

Take care not to overwater melons or they will be watery rather than sweet.

The cole crops are easy. Cut your cabbages when they have headed and before they burst. Cut broccoli when the buds are tight, just before they are ready to swell and bloom. Harvest Brussels sprouts from the bottom up to allow top sprouts to mature.

Snap beans should be picked when young, before the beans are evident in the pod. Limas and butter beans should be allowed to fill out. Pick them before the pods yellow.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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