{"id":6679,"date":"2010-08-10T09:00:09","date_gmt":"2010-08-10T13:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nybg.org\/wordpress\/?p=6679"},"modified":"2010-08-04T16:26:15","modified_gmt":"2010-08-04T20:26:15","slug":"harvest-tips-for-maximum-flavor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/2010\/08\/exhibit-news\/harvest-tips-for-maximum-flavor\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvest Tips for Maximum Flavor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Written by Burpee Home Gardens Team. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.burpeehomegardens.com\/\">Burpee Home Gardens<\/a> is a Supporting Sponsor of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/eg\/\">The Edible Garden<\/a>.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Burpee-Tomato-Harvest.jpg\"><img data-attachment-id=\"6682\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/2010\/08\/exhibit-news\/harvest-tips-for-maximum-flavor\/attachment\/burpee-tomato-harvest\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Burpee-Tomato-Harvest.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1200,1807\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;11&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D300&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1254928778&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;105&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.025&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Burpee Tomato-Harvest\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Burpee-Tomato-Harvest-199x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Burpee-Tomato-Harvest-680x1023.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Burpee-Tomato-Harvest-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Burpee Tomato-Harvest\" align=\"right\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-6682\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Burpee-Tomato-Harvest-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Burpee-Tomato-Harvest-680x1023.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Burpee-Tomato-Harvest.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a>Harvest time is an exciting time in the garden. Those plants you have been taking care of, feeding, weeding, and watering are now returning the favor with ripe pickings for you to enjoy. Very quickly you\u2019ll have a kitchen counter or bushel filled with red and juicy tomatoes, tasty peppers, flavorful cucumbers, and more. <\/p>\n<p>What to do with all this plenty\u2014and when\u2014present some of the last obstacles of the season for new vegetable gardeners. If you\u2019re suddenly inundated with abundance, here are a few tips to remember to receive maximum flavor from your harvest:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tomatoes can be picked before they\u2019re fully ripe\u2014don\u2019t let them over-ripen on the vine! Fruit that\u2019s slightly green will continue to mature to red on your windowsill.<\/li>\n<li>Peppers can be harvested at any stage of growth, and some continue to ripen to red, orange, or yellow. However, their flavor doesn\u2019t fully develop until maturity.<\/li>\n<li>Pick cucumbers when they\u2019re small for tenderness and taste. Keep watch, though\u2014they can grow an inch or more a day.<\/li>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<li>Harvest often and regularly. This speeds up production of new fruit. From beans to lettuce to tomatoes and more, the more you pick, the more you\u2019ll produce!<\/li>\n<li>For herbs like basil and cilantro, harvest before your plants start to flower for best flavor. Also, pick full stems rather than removing individual leaves. Cut just above each pair of lower leaves for bushy, compact plants.<\/li>\n<li>For the best tasting lettuce, try to harvest in the morning when the leaves are crisp, sweet, and full of moisture.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The shelf life of freshly picked vegetables is amazingly brief: Once picked, the clock starts ticking fast! Plan ahead with ready-to-go recipes or friends willing to take the excess off your hands. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.burpeehomegardens.com\/\">Our Web site<\/a> offers other helpful advice for using or storing your yield.<\/p>\n<p>However you choose to prepare your homegrown vegetables, remember to take the time to congratulate yourself on a job well done. Take notes on what went well in the garden, what didn\u2019t, and what you\u2019d like to try next. Treat this year\u2019s harvest as a great starting point to next year\u2019s vegetable gardening season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by Burpee Home Gardens Team. Burpee Home Gardens is a Supporting Sponsor of The Edible Garden. Harvest time is an exciting time in the garden. Those plants you have been taking care of, feeding, weeding, and watering are now returning the favor with ripe pickings for you to enjoy. Very quickly you\u2019ll have a&#8230;  <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/2010\/08\/exhibit-news\/harvest-tips-for-maximum-flavor\/\" title=\"ReadHarvest Tips for Maximum Flavor\"><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"btn btn-info\">Read more <i class=\"fa fa-angle-double-right\"><\/i><\/button><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":183,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[3,241],"tags":[763,155,797],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/ph0lU-1JJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6679"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/183"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6679"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6704,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6679\/revisions\/6704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}