Cucumbers are best picked green, firm, and moderate in size–as soon as they are edible and usable size. Home-grown cucumbers should be picked slightly smaller than the size you’d find at the market. Smaller cucumbers will be just as tasty as larger cucumbers. Never allow cucumbers to mature on the plant. If cucumber fruits mature…
Harvest and Storage
How to Harvest and Store Asparagus
When to Harvest Asparagus: • Harvest asparagus when spears are 6 to 9 inches (15-23 cm) long, about the thickness of your index finger, and before the tips begin to separate. • Asparagus is one of the first crops to come to harvest each spring. Early in the season when the weather is cool (less…
How to Harvest and Store Rhubarb
When to Harvest Rhubarb: Harvest rhubarb stalks when they are about as thick as your finger and at least 8 inches (20 cm) long. Stalks 12 to 18 inches (30-45 cm) long and longer will be most tasty. Mature stalk length varies by variety. Color also varieties by variety: cultivars such as Victoria and Linneaus…
How to Harvest and Store Peas
There are three kinds of peas: garden peas, snap peas, and snow peas. Garden peas also called English peas or green peas are the peas you eat without a pod. There are two kinds of green peas—small-seeded type, also called petit pois, for eating fresh and freezing and large-seeded type that are shelled and used…
How to Harvest and Store Celery
When to Harvest Celery: Harvest celery as soon as the stalks are big enough to use—about 6 inches (15 cm) or more long from the soil line to the first leaf. Cut off individual stalks or slice off the whole plant at or just below the soil line. The inner stalks are the most tender…
How to Harvest and Store Arugula
How to Harvest Arugula Harvest arugula when the leaves are big enough to eat. Harvest leaves one at a time or cut the entire head at once. Arugula is a fast-growing cool-season salad green. It is ready for harvest 30 to 40 days after sowing. Arugula leaves are tangy and peppery with a mustard-like flavor….
How to Harvest and Store Endive and Escarole
Harvest endive and escarole almost any time during growth—when leaves are just 2 to 3 inches long or after a head forms and is firm to the touch. Endive and escarole matures 50 to 70 days after sowing. Endive is also called curly endive and frisee—it has frilly or ruffled leaves. Escarole is also called…
How to Harvest and Store Rutabagas
Harvest rutabagas when root tops are 3 to 5 inches in diameter. Young, small roots will be the most tender and succulent. Rutabagas touched by at least two frosts will be the sweetest and most flavorful. Rutabagas are ready for harvest 90 to 110 days after sowing. If allowed to get too big, rutabagas will…
How to Harvest and Store Parsnips
When to Harvest Parsnips: Harvest parsnips when roots reach full size, about 1½ to 2 inches (3-8 cm) in diameter and 8 to 12 inches (20-30 cm) long. Parsnip roots are best lifted in late fall after they have been exposed to several moderate freezes. Temperatures below °30F (-1°C) convert root starches to sugars giving…
How to Harvest and Store Turnips
When to Harvest Turnips: • Harvest turnips when root tops are 1 to 1½ inches in diameter but not more than 2½ inches in diameter. • Turnips that get too big will be strong flavored and often become tough and fibrous. • Harvest turnip greens young and tender. Cut the outer leaves an inch or…