Shannon Kenneday, ANR Educator, UGA Extension Forsyth County
It is the time of year where the fruits of our labor are finally paying off. Berries, squash, zucchini, and beans are ripe for the picking. But sometimes after harvesting your produce and putting it on the counter for later use, it begins to soften before you ever get the chance to use it. I like to think that home harvesting was the original source of the phrase “use it or lose it.” Whether or not this is the case, the principle still applies, so let’s discuss a few gardening tips that will help ensure the longest shelf life of your hard-earned produce.
Something many people overlook is that food safety begins during harvest. If you wouldn’t prepare dinner with dirty hands, you shouldn’t pick fruits and vegetables without first visiting a bar of soap. Washing your hands or using a clean pair of gloves ensures that you are not transferring bacteria, viruses, or other pathogens that can cause food-borne illness to the fresh produce. Similarly, be sure to place your fresh-picked food into a clean container. Having a bucket that you regularly use but do not clean may cause premature rotting due to pathogens in the container. Good sanitation practices ensure that you stay healthy, and your produce lasts longer!
Next, know when to pick your fruits for optimal ripeness. Some fruits such as tomatoes can be picked at the first sign of blush; once they have been picked you can leave them on the counter to continue ripening. This method of harvesting gives pests less opportunity to damage the fruit in the garden. Other fruits such as blueberries have to be left on the plant until they reach full ripeness because they stop ripening after they are picked. If you harvest a fruit that is slightly damaged, either cut out the damaged part and use it immediately or discard the entire fruit. Damaged fruits and vegetables degrade quickly and can spoil other fruits or vegetables stored with them.
Timing your harvest is important because you need to harvest during the coolest and driest part of the day. Cool temperatures slow the degradation that begins once the fruit is removed from the plant. Produce is already at its coolest temperature in the morning, so it will cool down more quickly to improve shelf life. Also, many fungal pathogens spread under moist conditions, so try to harvest after the morning dew dries.
To ensure a long harvesting season, treat your plants well. Avoid injuring your plants by using sterile and sharp tools to harvest fruits like peppers. Another good harvesting practice is to avoid harvesting if a plant is showing signs of drought stress. Fruit on a wilted plant will not be high quality and harvesting will cause a wound on the plant where water loss will occur. So, it is a good harvesting practice to water the plant and wait until it looks healthier before you harvest parts from it.
As soon as you have picked fruits and vegetables from your garden, place them in shade to slowly cool them down. Plant cells will continue the process of respiration using a stored energy and sugars while the plant is warm. By cooling the plant material, you are slowing the respiration process, thus preserving as many of the carbohydrates and sugars as possible. Most produce keeps well in cool and dry conditions; this includes root vegetables, squash, onions, and celery. Other produce such as peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries need humidity; otherwise they will collapse.
If you have too much produce from your garden, try to share some of those hard-earned veggies with family or neighbors. If that doesn’t work, it may be time to dust off the mason jars and start canning! If you would like more information on food preservation you can always visit the National Center for Home Food Preservation. Happy harvesting!