Harvest Tips From Our Gardens to Yours

As the days shorten and harvests continue to develop, we thought we'd share some of our tried and true food gardening tips with you.

Did You Know?....

Jeanne: "If your Anaheim or Big Jim Peppers are curled on the end there is a pretty good chance they will be a hotter pepper!" (pictured: Jeanne's Big Jim pepper harvest)

Carolyn: "If you prune leaves from cucumber and tomato plants, you will get higher yields."

Kelly: "One of the best ways to avoid powdery mildew on your squash vines is to water as close to the soil surface as possible and avoid splashing water on the leaves."

Mark: "Instead of bird netting to protect your cherry or fruit harvest, use row cover for the 2-3 weeks that you will be harvesting. It is lightweight, easy to get around a smaller tree, and reflects light so your plant doesn’t get too hot. Mark has used this many times to avoid bird injury in the netting and to get the most abundant cherry harvest.

Jen: "When pickling cucumbers, you can add a grape leaf to your jar. They release tannins that keep your pickles crisp." (GREAT for your favorite refrigerator pickle recipe)

Do you have a special harvest tip that helps enhance or increase your backyard bounties? Share it with us the next time you are in so we can pass it along to others.