Page 2—Ag Progress Section 1, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 15, 1998
Knowledge Is Ripe For The Picking
ROCKSPRING (Centre Co.)
You’ve planted the seeds,
watered the plants and waited
for your crop to come in. The
real test for the home gardener
is knowing when to pick the
fruits of your labor, says a veg
etable expert in Penn State’s
College of Agricultural Sciences.
“One of the advantages a
home gardener has over people
who purchase produce is that
the crop can be picked at the
moment of ripeness,” said Pete
Ferretti, professor of vegetable
crops. “Commercial wholesale
producers pick many crops
before they are truly ripe and
allow them to ripen gradually
during shipping, handling and
display.”
While commercial growers
must meet the demands of the
marketplace, home gardeners
and most direct marketers need
only please themselves when it
comes to harvesting the crops
they’ve planted. Ferretti also
points out that vegetables are
highest in vitamins and miner
als such as potassium, magne
sium and iron when they are
fully ripe.
“For best flavor and storage
capability, pick your crops first
thing in the morning,” Ferretti
said. “They will be cool and firm
and will not have absorbed any
natural field heat.”
Ferretti says home growers
can become savvy harvesters by
remembering just a few tips
about each crop
•Tomatoes. Tomatoes should
be picked when they are firm
and have reached full color
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crimson, red, yellow or other col
ors depending on the variety.
“It’s orobably a good idea to pick
a range of ripening tomatoes
every few days and let a few fin
ish ripening after picking,”
Ferretti said. “The ripening
tomatoes will have slightly less
amounts of vitamins and miner
als than the fully ripe fruits.”
•Peppers. Green peppers are
picked and used before full
ripeness, so Ferretti recom
mends gardeners gauge ripeness
by the size estimate on a seed
packet or in a seed catalog.
Firmness also is a ripeness indi
cator. If the pepper feels gs
though it has thin walls, it is not
ripe. “When the peppers are
allowed to ripen, they can turn
into a rainbow of colors depend
ing on the variety,” he said. “Use
peppers ripened to full color
quickly because they have only a
few days of shelf life at that
stage.”
•Zucchini. Ferretti says zuc
chini tastes best when harvested
at lengths from 6 to 10 inches. “I
wouldn’t let them grow longer
than a foot,” Ferretti said. “After
8 to 10 inches, zucchini gets
tough and develops more seeds.
Longer zucchini that escaped
your attention during picking,
can be grated, or breaded and
fried.”
•Cucumbers. Pickle cucum
bers should not be grown beyond
approximately 4 inches. Other
types, such as some burpless or
Oriental varieties, can reach
ripeness at nearly 15 inches.
Ferretti says the longer cucum
ber types are ripe when they
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retain a hint of the ridges and
spinyness associated with
immature cucumbers. “Think of
a cucumber as a balloon,”
Ferretti said. “If it’s inflated to a
perfect smoothness, it’s too far
gone.”
•Eggplant. Estimate
ripeness by comparing the crop
to the size and shape described
on the seed package or catalog.
“The eggplant should also be
shiny and glossy,” Ferretti said.
“The stem and cap should be
mint green or purple, depending
on the type.”
•Melons (muskmelons and
cantaloupes). Most melons are
perfectly ripe when they sepa
rate from the vine easily. “A
small tug should be enough,”
Ferretti said. Other melon types
are ripe when they turn from a
greenish hue to a more yellow or
orange color.
•Watermelons. Each water
melon will have a pigtailed ten
dril of growth near the stem. “As
that tendril browns or dies, look
at the underside of the melon,”
Ferretti said. “The underside
should be slightly yellow. Inside,
the seeds will be deep brown to
black, not light tan.”
•Carrots. Ferretti says two
blunt-nosed carrot types,
Danvers and Nantes, grow well
in Pennsylvania’s dense soils.
Because carrots invest most of
their growth into the plant
leaves, the carrot, or root, does
not mature until the late sum
mer or fall. Danvers varieties
should be harvested when they
reach about a 2-inch diameter.
Nantes should be picked when
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they reach 1 inch in diameter.
“To check the diameter, just run
your finger around the base of
the plant and uncover the top of
the carrot,” Ferretti said.
•Leaf Lettuce and Spinach.
Although gardeners can harvest
the entire plant head early to
thin the crop, Ferretti recom
mends removing and using the
outer leaves of the plant as you
need them. The plant will keep
producing leaves until a killing
frost. “You can harvest chard
and rhubarb the same way,”
Ferretti said.
•Onions. Because most
onions are grown from sets,
which means many of the plants
grow too close together, Ferretti
recommends thinning out the
final storage harvest when
about half the plant leaves have
turned brown or drooped. Push
th rest of the leaves over and
pick the onions about a week
later. “Leave the onions in the
field to dry a few days, then
hang them,” Ferretti said.
“Onions forming a seed head
the green shoot that looks like a
spear coming out of the onion
should be eaten immediately,
because they won’t dry out ade
quately for storage.”
•Snap (green or wax) Beans.
The key to harvesting snap
beans is to pick them before the
pod shows any seed develop
ment. “There should be now
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swelling where you can see the
seed in the bean,” Ferretti said
“Also, the bean should literally
snap when you break it. If
they’re over the hill, the bean
will be rubbery.”
•Broccoli. Broccoli plants
produce a large central head
comprised of tightly bound buds.
Ferretti says the head should be
harvested before any hint of yel
lowing appears and before the
buds separate. “Some broccoli
varieties will continue to pro
duce large shoots even after the
central head has been harvest
ed,” Ferretti said.
•Flat Edible Pod Peas. These
crops, known as Chinese peas or
snow peas, should be picked
when still flat, before the pod
reveals the outline of the inter
nal seeds. Ferretti recommends
checking the size description on
the seed packet or catalog as
well.
•Round Edible Pod Peas
Also known as snap peas,
Ferretti says these varieties are
the sweetest and most tender
peas. They should be picked
when fully round and smooth
The color should be mint green
•English Peas. The pod
should be shiny and swelled
enough to suggest the outline of
peas. “All pea varieties should
be cooled immediately after
picking, because their sugars
will turn to starch under warm
conditions,” Ferretti said.
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