With the home vegetable garden harvest upon us in full force, don't forget about local food banks, which can always use fresh vegetables and produce. The Garden Writers Association of America, for the fourth consecutive year, is sponsoring Plant a Row for the Hungry. The concept is simple in that it encourages home gardeners to donate excess produce to the hungry.
"Nothing is 'excess' for us," says Magre Albaugh, director of St. Joseph's Family Center, a food bank in Gilroy, California. "Anything is appreciated - even small bags because it all adds up."
Albaugh maintains that it is ironic that in California, with an agricultural crop larger than any other state and most countries, many people still are going to bed hungry. But home gardeners can help.
Of course, to get the most out of your backyard harvest, remember that it is important to keep picking. Harvesting vegetables is the only way to keep vegetable plants from sensing they have not finished their life cycles. By picking, plants continue to produce rather than going to seed.
Many vegetables also continue to ripen after they are picked. Because of this, they should be used immediately or stored in the refrigerator to slow down the process. This is especially true of tomatoes, sweet corn, snap beans, summer squash, beets and cucumbers. The sugars of some vegetables like corn and peas change to starch very rapidly unless refrigerated immediately.
Remember, too, that "small is beautiful" when it comes to harvesting. By picking early and often, plants will keep producing, and you can even avoid some garden problems. Small vegetables not only taste great, but because they're young and growing fast, bugs, disease and animal pests have less of a chance to get them.
Harvesting at peak flavor is easy if you know what to look for. While most tomatoes are ripe when they turn red, other vegetables may be a little tougher to determine. Corn, for instance, is ready when the silk of the ears turn brown. The liquid in kernels should be milk-like. Beans and peas should be picked when pods are plump; broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce, when heads are solid. Cucumbers are sweetest at only two to four inches; zucchini is best when six inches.
Even the time you pick is important. Peas and corn are best picked late in the day when they contain the most sugar. For most everything else, early in the morning is best before the day's heat has a chance to soften the fruit.
Go To Page: 1 2
