It’s time to plan festive feasts with harvestable veggies from the garden. From garden to plate doesn’t get any better than this!
Growing veggies may need constant attention but come harvest time the rewards speak for themselves. Tasty tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers, buckets of baby marrows and more spinach that you can eat… the list goes on!
What’s most important is to harvest at the right time and to keep on harvesting. The more you pick the more the veggies produce.
Vegetables picked too early may lack flavour, but if left too long can become bitter, stringy, or starchy. Tomatoes are an exception; the riper they get on the plant, the sweeter they are.
If you are unsure whether it’s time to harvest or not, sacrifice one or two fruits that you think are ripe. If they are not, then you know to wait a bit longer and you’ve only lost a tiny part of the harvest.
Make the most of your tomatoes
Harvest: To extend your crop of tomatoes, pick tomatoes as they are turning from orange to red. They will ripen off the bush if stored at room temperature, not on a sunny windowsill or in the fridge. Leave a few to become completely ripe because vine ripened tomatoes have the best flavour. Cut off the fruit with kitchen scissors or garden clippers.
Plant: Sow another crop of tomatoes in December or early January. Cherry tomatoes fruit faster than other tomatoes so consider sowing them if frost comes earlier in your area.
http://www.kirchhoffs.co.za/product-category/vegetables/tomato/
Try this: Festive tomato wedges
This incredibly simple tomato salad celebrates the unrivalled flavour of home grown tomatoes. This dish is great for picnics, lazy lunches or quick suppers.
Cut fresh tomatoes into bite-sized chunks or wedges. Blend together 2/3 cup vegetable oil, 1/4 cup white wine vinegar, mix of fresh chopped herbs (parsley, dill, basil, oregano and chives or spring onions) 2 tbs mayonnaise, and salt and pepper to taste to make a creamy dressing. Pour the dressing over the tomatoes and toss gently. The salad can be chilled slightly before serving.
Sweet basil – a culinary gift
Harvest
Pick fresh leave from the top of the plant, which encourages new leaves. If you need more leaves use kitchen scissors to cut stems from the top downwards, just above a node. Don’t cut off more than a third of the plant at one time. For the most flavourful leaves, pinch off the flowers or harvest the leaves before the flowers appear.
Plant: Sweet basil is one of the easiest herbs to grow from seed and can still be sown this month. It is a good companion plant for tomatoes, and it pairs well with them on a culinary level too.
http://www.kirchhoffs.co.za/product-category/herbs/basil/
Try this: Basil pesto is a speciality and very easy to make. Stir a dollop of pesto into to pasta, add to pizza, and use it to flavour soups, stews, vegetable dishes and sauces. It’s welcome Christmas gift for anyone who likes cooking.
In a blender or food processor, pulse 2 cups fresh basil leaves and ⅓ cup pine nuts or chopped almonds or walnuts. Add ½ cup freshly grated Romano or Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces) and 1 tbs chopped garlic and pulse a few times. Slowly add ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, while the food processor is running. Use a spatula to scrape the pesto from the sides. Taste and add salt and ground pepper for flavour. Out in a sealable glass container and store in the fridge.
Versatile zucchini
Harvest: for sweet and crunch Zucchini (baby Marrows) pick them when still young and small. The longer they stay on the plant the bigger they become and less flavourful. Cut the fruit off the stem with kitchen scissors or a sharp knife. Don’t twist and pull it off as you could damage the stem.
http://www.kirchhoffs.co.za/product/squash-bush-caserta-baby-marr/
Preserving: If you are harvesting more than you can eat, freeze the excess for adding to winter soups and stews. Wash and trim the ends, cut into 12mm thick slices, blanch, cool, drain and dry. Pack in containers or plastic bags. They freeze well if cooked as part of a larger dish, such as ratatouille.
Try this: Lemon, herb and garlic flavoured veggie kebabs for the braai. Thread zucchini chunks, yellow patty pan squash, mushrooms, onion wedges, baby tomatoes and lemon wedges onto skewers, either wood or flat metal. In a mixing bowl whisk together ¼ cup olive oil, chopped garlic, thyme and oregano. Brush the skewered veggies with the oil mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Grill on the braai, turning occasionally until the veggies are tender. Serve warm with a garnish of chopped parsley and squeeze over lemon juice.
Other harvesting tips
- Green beans (bush and runner): Pick before the pods start to swell. If left on the bush they become stringy. the more you pick the longer they produce.
- Cucumbers: pick when they are big enough to use, and still deep green. Yellowing at the base indicates that the fruit is over-ripe and it will be bitter.
- Carrots: Depending on the variety, the longer they are left the bigger they will grow but there is also a cut-off point when they get too tough. If the shoulders of the carrot are green they are past their best and will be woody and bitter.
- Beetroot: like carrots they can be harvested very small as baby beets or left in the ground until the swollen root is 5 to 8cm in diameter.
- Swiss chard and loose leaf lettuce: the more the leaves are harvested the longer they produce. Harvest two to three of the outer leaves from a plant.
- Eggfruit (brinjals) are best for eating when the fruit is glossy and dark. Dull, faded fruit will be bitter. Immature fruit is also bitter and the seeds inside are white.
- Peppers and chillies: can be harvested while still green or sit on the plant and turn red or yellow. The longer they are on the plant, they become sweeter (peppers) or hotter (chillies).
Good to know: Boost long-season fruiting veggies like eggfruit, tomatoes, peppers, and squash, with a potassium rich fertiliser like Ludwig’s Vigorosa 5:1:5. Keep pests under control with Ludwig’s Insect Spray or Margaret Roberts Organic Insecticide.
Keep on sowing
There’s still time to sow a last round of summer veggies and herbs such as basil, bush beans, beetroot, carrots, coriander, dill or fennel, Swiss chard, spring onions, radish, rocket and cherry tomatoes. Even lettuce can be sown in shadier parts of the garden.
http://www.kirchhoffs.co.za/product-category/vegetables/
Text: Alice Coetzee
