Get Picking! It's payback time in the Garden!

For the best flavor and texture, pick veggies in their prime.

All those hours of composting, planting, weeding and watering the veggie garden are now paying us back with tomatoes, broccoli, corn, cukes, squash, beans and more. But when do we pick this great harvest?

Timing is everything. The time to pick is when flavor and texture are in their prime--which is, after all, a compelling reason to grow your own in the first place. Vine ripened, full-flavored tomatoes picked 10 minutes before they're plopped in the salad are always better than ones from the store.

Pick right before eating/cooking if you can. But most important, pay attention to each veggie's own character that tells us when it's best for picking. Here are some tips to help you pick veggies in their prime.
Cut, don't yank. In general, clean cuts with scissors or hand pruners are best when removing veggies from plants.
Beans (Snap): Pick before the seeds bulge through the pod. They should snap easily into two. Check daily as it doesn't take long for beans to go from tender to tough.
Dried Beans: To get dried beans, leave beans on the plant until the pods turn brown. Harvest when beans rattle in the pod. Remove beans from the pod and put in the freezer 3 to 4 hours to kill any insects or larvae that might be on them. Store beans in a dry, cool container.
Broccoli: Pick and eat broccoli before the flower heads bloom, so check unopened flower buds frequently. Don't expect Colorado garden-grown broccoli to grow as large as the heads from the market as our climate generally produces smaller broccoli.
Carrots: Because carrots are underground, it's obviously harder to tell when to harvest. The tops may show at soil level depending on the variety and that will give a hint of the size. If tops don't show, dig up a carrot with a lot of foliage to check crop development. Mature carrots can be harvested right away or they can be left in the ground to harvest later.
Corn: About 3 weeks after silks form, they will turn dry and brown. Pull back the husk a bit to see if the kernels are filled all the way to the tip of the plant. If they are nice and tender when you take a thumbnail to them, they should squirt milk letting you know it's time to pick.
Cucumber: Because they grow quickly in the August heat, cukes need to be checked daily and harvested young. When to pick will vary by variety, but fruits should be firm. Over-ripe cucumbers can be very bitter or pithy, even before they start to turn yellow.
Squash: Pick all varieties when young and check the plants often. Skins should be tender enough to poke a fingernail through. Use scissors or pruners to harvest.
Tomatoes: Harvest them when fully colored all the way to the top of the fruit and slightly soft to the touch. Gently twist and pull tomatoes from the vine.
Herbs: Cut herbs and use some while they are fresh and let the rest dry for use later. Cutting the plant back will allow it to bush up again.
Late season reminders:
Keep the garden mulched. August brings hot, dry weather, so keep mulching the garden with straw, wood mulch or grass clippings to retain soil moisture. Also keep mulch away from seedlings and the base of plants.
Plant in September. Even if you didn't plant a garden earlier, you can still get the soil ready to plant a cool season crop with lettuce, carrots, onions, garlic and spices like saffron crocus.

Tip of the Week reprinted courtesy of Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC) of which Foothills Landscape Maintenance, LLC is a member. ALCC is the only only professional organization for Colorado's landscape contracting industry statewide. Tip of the Week is copyrighted by Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado and may be forwarded or copied by its members provided proper credit is given to ALCC