Anchorage Daily News

Don't be one of those gardeners who leaves food to rot in their vegetable patch. It doesn't matter if you do it because you want to keep the garden looking "nice." There are some things that need to be harvested even though the growing season is not over. And, it doesn't matter if you've lost interest. If you don't want the food, others do.

Click to enlarge

Story tools

Comments (0)

E-mail a friend

Print

Share on Facebook

Digg this

Seed Newsvine

Send link via AIM

Follow on Twitter

Font size : A | A | A

I am going to ignore the radishes. If you still have some from your original planting, pull them and start over, a few at a time.

Kohlrabi can become pulpy as do radish, and yours are almost certainly ready now. The part of this unusual Brassica we eat is really nothing more than a swollen cabbage stem, cabbages being a near relative. Notice the few scraggly leaves on top, which would form the 'head' if the plant was actually its cousin, a cabbage. Anyhow, baseball or tennis ball size is best. After that the outer skin develops more and more fiber and has to be peeled off.

Carrots continue to need thinning until there is at least one inch of free soil between roots. Some varieties, those touted as being earliest, will taste best if harvested all together. By all means eat the roots of the thinning, but by this time of year the greens should be avoided. These develop toxic alkaloids, which is why no one eats the tops of carrots when they remain attached -- not even Bugs Bunny.

Broccoli is ready in many gardens. The harvest here should only be of flowers, not the entire plant. Cut the center out and new, side shoots will develop. These will be smaller than the main head but welcome later in the season.

It is a bit early for cauliflower, but some are forming curds. To keep yours clean and white (unless you have a purple variety), consider using a binder clip and pulling all of the leaves together to prevent sunlight from hitting the flower. Harvest the entire plant when the curds look like they are about to open. You won't get side shoots from a cauliflower.

If you tried growing Mizuna greens this year, you were in luck given the high temperatures a successful outdoor crop of this "Japanese lettuce" requires. Instead of pulling individual plants to steam or put into salads, clip with scissors so the roots and crowns are not disturbed. New leaves will be produced.

Snow peas and snap peas have been developing from flowers and these should be picked at the size you like to eat. Do try and save some for the kitchen. It is hard not to eat them out of hand when harvesting. Make sure your plants continue to have places to grow and something to hang on to as production is just now beginning.

It is a bit early for any major harvest of potatoes, in fact they can still be hilled one more time. But once yours flowers there are spuds down below ground or mulch. If you want so-called "new" potatoes, take a few. This is why they are called "new potatoes." Don't rob too many, they will continue to grow and fatten up right up until the first frost or so.

When it comes to squash fruits, as with anything else for that matter, don't assume that leaving it on the vine will produce a bigger, better fruit. Use your common sense. If it looks like it does when you buy it at the store, it is time to harvest. And read labels. A miniature squash is not going to get bigger or better tasting with another month of growth.

Finally -- and it breaks my heart to tell those that love the stuff -- it is getting pretty close to the end of the rhubarb season, if it hasn't passed already. Yippee!

Don't forget that Bean's Cafe, the Food Banks of Alaska and other places will take fresh produce. This is the time to harvest those Plant a Row for the Hungry rows. It is easy and needed. Do not let food go to waste in the garden.

Jeff Lowenfels is a member of the Garden Writers Hall of Fame. You can reach him at teamingwithmicrobes.com or by calling 274-5297 during "The Garden Party" radio show from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays on KBYR AM-700.

ADVERTISEMENT