Page 43 - Bringing out the Potential In Our Children - Gardeners - Food Producers

For more, use our in-depth Growing Guide:

Grow The Juciest Melons Ever

Bulb Onions and Garlic Bulb Onions

You can begin to harvest onions as soon as they are big
enough to use as green onions.

Bulbing onions are fully mature when the tops turn yellow and
start to fall over. To speed the maturation process, knock the
tops over with back of your rake, just bending them over, not
snapping them. Wait a few days until the tops turn brown,
then carefully lift the bulbs out of the ground with a spading
fork. Gently brush off the soil, but don't wash them.

To reduce the risk of rotting in storage, cure the bulbs by
letting them dry in a warm, airy place out of direct sun or rain
for a week or two. When the papery outer skins are completely
dry and brittle and the tops are withered looking, cut the tops

off about 1 inch (2.5 cm) about the bulb and put them in mesh
bags or braid the tops together. Hang braids or mesh bags of
onions in a cool, dry spot to store them.

Garlic

Harvest when leaves begin to turn brown. Pull several bulbs
and break them apart. If it's too early, cloves will be
unsegmented and difficult to separate. Leave the remaining
bulbs for a week a two, and check again. If you leave bulbs in
the ground too long, the outer skins begin to deteriorate,
resulting in lower quality and poor storage. A rule of thumb is
to harvest when 75% of the foliage is brown.

Use a pitchfork to harvest the bulbs, and let them dry outside
in the sun for a few days, then store in a cool, dry place. You
can braid the dried leaves and hang the bunches or trim away
the leaves and roots, and put into mesh bags and hang them
in a well ventilated room.

Pea
Snow and Snap

Peas are ready to pick about 3 weeks after flowers appear.
Harvest plump pods that are just beginning to look bumpy; if
the pods are discolored or shriveled, the peas are past their
prime.

The best time to harvest is early in the morning because the
pods are crispest then and will store better and stay fresh
longer.

Use scissors to cut pods from the plant, or pull them off very