Easy GardeningJoseph Masabni, Assistant Professor and Extension Horticulturist, The Texas A&M University System

HARVESTING • HANDLING • STORING VEGETABLES

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Tohelp ensure that the vegetablesyou grow and prepare are of highquality, you need to harvest them at

peak maturity, handle them properly, andstore them under optimum conditions.

Vegetables continue their lifeprocesses even after they are picked. If thevegetables are mature at harvest, their lifeprocesses need to be slowed by chilling. Ifthey are immature produce such as greentomatoes, store them at room temperatureto enhance the ripening process.

Except for ripening, storage does notimprove a vegetable’s quality. To be accept-able, a vegetable must be cultivated prop-erly and of good quality at harvest.

It can be difficult to determine whenvegetables reach peak quality. The first stepis to keep a record of the cultivars plantedand the dates they were planted.

Although some vegetables are moreprone to damage during harvesting thanothers, avoid bruises and cuts in handlingall produce. Discard any vegetables with

signs of decay or rot to prevent them fromaffecting the good produce. Some vegeta-bles should be washed in cold runningwater immediately after they are harvestedto remove any soil, dust, or other contami-nants and to help lower their temperature.

Three keys to protecting the quality ofyour produce after harvest are temperature,moisture, and ventilation.

Temperature: For produce such aspeas and sweet corn, the conversion ofsugar to starch is critical to interrupt atharvest. To minimize this conversion, theproduce must be cooled immediately. Ifpossible, harvest these vegetables early inthe morning or right before you intend touse them.

Moisture: The proper humidity levelfor storage varies by commodity. Leafy-type vegetables require a high humidity ofabout 95 percent; in contrast, onions canbe stored in drier conditions, such as 65 to70 percent relative humidity.

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individual flower buds open enough toshow the bright yellow flowers. Cut

them off at 6 to 7 inches belowthe flower heads. The small, ten-der leaves are also edible and nu-tritious.

Store harvested broccoli in thecold drawer of the refrigerator.

Brussels sprouts: Harvest when thesprouts (buds) at the base of the plant be-come solid. Remove the buds higher onthe plant as they become firm, but do notstrip the leaves from the plants since theyare needed for further growth.

Store the sprouts in the cold section ofthe refrigerator.

Cabbage: Harvest cabbage when thehead becomes solid and firm. Theouter leaves should be auniform green or purple(depending on the type).Excessive water uptake byplant roots causes split-ting. To prevent mature headsfrom splitting, twist the plants enough tobreak several roots.

Store harvested cabbage in the crisperand use within 1 to 2 weeks.

Carrots are ready to be harvestedwhen they are small and succulent. Do notlet them get over about 1 inch in diameter.

Always pull the largest carrots in therow. Remove the tops and wash the carrotsbefore transferring them to refrigeratedstorage.

Cauliflower should be harvestedwhen the curds, or abortedflower heads, are full sized(6 to 8 inches) but stillcompact, white, andsmooth. Curds exposed to

Ventilation: Minimize wilting andtissue breakdown by ensuring that aircan circulate properly.

Recommendationsfor specific vegetables

Follow the guidelines below to helpensure a high-quality harvest.

Asparagus: Cut, just below soil line,shoots that are 6 to 8 inches tall. The stalksshould be fresh and firm with compact,closed tips. Angular or flat stalks are apt tobe woody.

Store asparagus in the refrigerator andwash just before use.

Beans—broad, lima, and greenshell: Harvest these beans when the podsare well filled but have not begun to yel-low. Keep the beans cold and humid, anduse them as soon as possible.

Beans—snap: For maximum tender-ness, harvest snap beans before they arefully mature, when the pods are almost fullsize but before the seeds begin to bulge.They should be free from scars and stringswhen snapped.

Keep snap beans cold (at 45 to 50 de-grees F) and humid, and use as soon aspossible. Wash the beans before storage tohelp retain their moisture content.

Beets: Pull early beets when they areabout 2 inches in diameter. If they are al-lowed to get much larger, they becomewoody, especially in warm, dry weather.

For late-crop beets, remove all butabout 1½ inches of the tops. Wash and re-frigerate them immediately.

Broccoli: Harvest broccoli when the flowerheads are fully developed but before the

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and bright in color. Older fruits becomesoft, seedy, and dull colored.

Keep the harvested fruit cool andhumid.

Garlic should be harvestedwhen the leaves lose color andthe tops begin to fall over.Store it in a cool, dry place.

Gourds: Harvest the edible gourd va-rieties when the fruits are young, tender,and 8 to 10 inches long; harvest the orna-mental varieties when the fruits are matureand fully colored but before the first fallfrost.

Greens: There are many kinds ofgreens, including beet greens, collards,dandelions, kale, mustard greens, Swisschard, turnip greens, and others. Break offthe outer leaves when they are 6 to 10inches long and before they start to yellow.Avoid wilted or flabby leaves.

Wash and chill the harvested leavesimmediately.

Horseradish: Harvest horseradishwhen the roots have reached maximumsize in late fall or early spring.

Jerusalem artichoke: Dig the tubersafter early fall frosts or in very early springbefore the new growth starts. Wash andstore artichoke heads in the refrigerator.

Kohlrabi can be harvested when the“bulbs” (thickened stems) reach 2 to 3inches in diameter. Store them in the re-frigerator.

Lettuce: Harvest leafvarieties of lettuce whenthe outer, older leavesare 4 to 6 inches long;harvest heading vari-

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sunlight appear rough, coarse, and creamcolored. When the head is 3 to 4 inchesacross, loosely tie the tips of the outerleaves above the curd to exclude sunlight.

Chill cauliflower immediately afterharvest.

Celery can becut when the plantsreach 12 to 15 inchestall. While they are young and tender, re-move the lowest leaves (8 to 10 incheslong) from a few plants and use them insalads, soups and cooked dishes.

Wash and store harvested celery inthe refrigerator.

Corn—sweet:Watch corn for signs ofripeness for earliest harvest. Corn silksdarken and dry out as the ears mature. Asthe kernels fill out toward the top, theends become more rounded instead ofpointed.

Pick sweet corn in the milk stage,when a milklike juice exudes from the ker-nels if crushed with a thumbnail. Becausesweet corn converts from sugar to starchvery rapidly, cook, eat, or chill it immedi-ately after harvest.

Cucumbers: Harvest them whenfruits are bright, firm, and green and be-fore they get too large. A rule of thumb:harvest sweet pickles at 1½ to 2 incheslong; harvest dills when they are 3 to 4inches long, bright green, and less crisp.Avoid yellowed cucumbers.

You can store cucumbers in the refrig-erator 5 days. Do not try to pickle salad-type cucumbers.

Eggplant: Harvest eggplantswhen the fruits are near full

size—about 6 to 8 inches indiameter—but still firm

the tops fall over. Remove any adheringdirt. Do not harvest onions when the soilis wet. Let the harvested onions dry for aday or two with the tops on; then clip 1inch above bulb before storing them in acool, dry place.

Harvest green onions when they are 6to 8 inches tall.

Parsley: Cut parsley when the olderleaves are 3 to 5 inches long.Continue to take the outerleaves for fresh, tender pars-ley until the first killingfrosts of winter.

Store harvested parsleyin the refrigerator.

Peas: If the peas will be shelled, har-vest the pods when they are shiny greenand fully developed. Overly mature peasare of poor quality. For the edible poddedvarieties (such as snow and Chinese peas),harvest when the pods are fully developed(about 3 inches) and before the seeds aremore than half developed.

After harvest, peas deteriorate rapidlyat high temperatures. Wash and chill themimmediately.

Peppers: Harvest bell peppers whenthey are 4 to 5 inches long and have full,well-formed lobes. Immature peppers arepale, soft, pliable, and thin fleshed.

Harvest jalapeños when they are 2 to2½ inches long. Mature peppers turn or-ange or red; this does not mean that theyare hotter.

Store harvested peppers at 45 to 50degrees F.

Potatoes—Irish and “new”: For Irishpotatoes, a good harvest size is 2 to 3

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eties when the heads are moderately firm.The older, outer leaves may be removedfrom plants of either type of lettuce assoon as the leaves are 4 to 6 inches long.New leaves provide a continuous harvestof tender, tasty lettuce until hot weatherbrings on bitter flavor and seed stalks start.

After harvest, wash the lettuce andstore in the refrigerator.

Melons—honeydew: Harvest honey-dew when it is yellowish to creamy whitewith a soft, velvety feel. The rind should beslightly soft at the blossom end and have afaint, pleasant odor.

Melons—muskmelon: Harvestmuskmelon when it is at three quarters tofull slip; full slip or ripe is when the stemseparates readily from the fruit under mod-erate pressure and leaves a circular depres-sion. The outer rind should not have anygreen color.

If the melons are fully ripe, store themin the refrigerator. If not, store them in acool area.

Melons—water-melon: Harvest water-melon when the fruits arefull size and have a dull sur-face and a cream-coloredground spot.

Okra: For optimum quality, harvestokra that is 3 to 4 inches long. Harvest thepods before they reach the hollow, puffystage and while they are easy to break orcut from stalk. For continued harvest, pickokra every day or two. Chill the harvestedokra immediately.

Onions: The ideal onion bulb is 2 to 4inches in diameter. Pull all onions when

Harvest winter squash whenthe fruits are full size. The rind isfirm and glossy and bottom(portion touching soil) offruit is cream to orange col-ored. Light frost will notdamage mature fruit.

Because squash, like cucumbers, aresusceptible to chilling injury, do not storethem at cold temperatures for more than 2to 3 days.

Sweet potatoes: Harvest sweet pota-toes late in the fall but before the first early

frost. Lift the sweet pota-toes to avoid cuts,bruises, and broken roots.

Remove the adhering soilbut do not wash the pota-toes. Cure them for at least 14

days in a warm, well-ventilatedlocation. Store them in a cool, dry place.

Tomatoes: Harvest tomatoes whenthey are fully colored but still firm. Harvestred tomatoes for eating fresh, cooking, orcanning. Do not can overripe tomatoes! Ifnecessary, pick mature green or slightlypink tomatoes and ripen them at roomtemperature, out of direct sunlight.

Store ripe tomatoes in the refrigerator.

Turnips: Harvest the turnips whenthe roots are l½ to 2½ inches in diameterbut before heavy fall frosts. For greens, har-vest the leaves 4 to 6 inches in length.Keep topped turnips cold and humid.

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inches in diameter. However, individualpreference is the rule here.

Harvest “new” potatoes at any size,but generally do not dig before they are 1¼to 1½ inches in diameter. Let the potatoesdry several hours in garden after diggingthem.

Do not expose potatoes to sunlight forany length of time. Remove any adheringsoil, but do not wash the potatoes beforestoring them. Store harvested potatoes in acool, dry area.

Pumpkins: Pick pumpkins when theyare full size, the rind is firm and glossy,and the bottom of the fruit (the portiontouching the soil) is cream to orange col-ored. Store harvested pumpkins in a cool,dry area.

Radishes: Harvest radishes when theyare about 1 inch in diameter. Wash andchill them immediately.

Rutabagas: Harvest rutabagas whenthe roots reach full size but before heavyfall frosts. Thin the rutabagas early to en-sure that they have rapid, uniform growthand highest quality. Store harvestedrutabagas in the refrigerator.

Spinach should be harvested whenthe large leaves are 4 to 6 inches long. Pullthe larger, whole plants or harvest theolder leaves and allow new growth to de-velop.

Wash the leaves thoroughly and storethem in the refrigerator.

Squash: Harvest squash when it is 4to 6 inches long for yellow crooknecksquash, 6 to 8 inches long for yellowstraight neck, and 3 to 4 inches in diame-ter for white scallop. A glossy color indi-cates tenderness.

AcknowledgmentsThis publication was revised from earlier versions written bySam Cotner, Professor Emeritus and former ExtensionHorticulturist, and Al Wagner, former Professor andExtension Horticulturist.

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