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When to pick vegies
Get organised to make the most of garden space and enjoy homegrown produce all year
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Eating homegrown food is satisfying and good for you, as the freshness maximises the vitamin and mineral content of vegies. Having vegies in the back garden is also convenient as you’ll always have something fresh on hand.
PLANNING AND TOOLS
Good use of available space will diversify the types of vegetables that can be grown.
Use fences to train climbing crops such as beans and peas, or pots for eggplants and onions.
Edging garden beds with bricks, boards or railway sleepers increases the depth of the soil and raises the height of the bed, reducing bending.
Careful watering and a sharp pair of secateurs are needed for basic maintenance and harvesting. Bypass secateurs with a curved blade are the most versatile, while anvil secateurs are useful for heavy cuts.
CUCUMBER
There are more than 100 different types of cucumber but the most popular are Lebanese, telegraph, apple and burpless.
Most varieties grow as vines that tend to spread but compact types such as Green Gem are good for small gardens.
HARVEST at about 12 weeks, picking green cucumbers when they’re about 150mm long, or the apple variety when they’re no bigger than a cricket ball.
TIP When seedlings have six or seven leaves, pinch out the growing tips to encourage lateral growth and promote more fruit.
EGGPLANT
Pick eggplants when they develop good colour but before they lose their shine as the seeds of overripe fruit go brown.
HARVEST from 10 to 12 weeks and check if they’re ready by pushing on one side of the fruit. If it doesn’t spring back when released then it’s mature. Cut the stem with sharp secateurs, leaving a 50mm piece attached to the fruit.
BEANS
Start picking pods as they appear. Beans taste sweet while they’re young and tender but can get stringy and tough if left on the vine too long.
HARVEST from about 10 to 12 weeks, picking them two or three times a week at peak harvest, as the more they’re picked the more they produce.
PEAS
Pinch out the top shoot of each plant when the first pods appear to encourage thicker growth.
HARVEST from 10 to 12 weeks, picking them regularly for a high yield. When the plant has fi nished cropping cut it down but leave the roots for the soil to absorb the nitrogen they contain.
Eat the peas soon after picking for the sweetest flavour.
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