Harvesting Autumn Vegetables
When spring comes around, many gardeners begin planting their fall crops, and in a few months' time they'll find themselves harvesting their autumn vegetables. Aside from other fall-time jobs you will need to do, like planting for the next season, digging, and preparing the garden for winter, harvesting reaps, literally, the fruits (or vegetables, in this case!) of your labors. Follow these steps to make sure you're harvesting the right vegetables and the right time.
Early Autumn
In early autumn, normally September depending on your precise geographic location and the current state of the zany meteorological climate, you should harvest potatoes and store the unblemished roots in a cool, dark, airy place. For onions, wait for the leaves to turn yellow and die back. That's your cue that it's time to harvest them as well. Dry them by laying them out in the sun or a shed for about a week removing the tops. If you're growing sweetcorn, harvest the crops as the silk threads turn dark brown, typically by the middle of September. Continue harvesting sweetcorn as and when the silk threads turn dark brown. This should be complete by the middle of September. Around this time, you'll also begin harvesting heads of celery and will continue into the later autumn months.
You don't need to harvest asparagus, bean, and pea plants yet but cut off the tops of finished plans, leaving the roots to provide nitrogen to the soil.
Late Autumn
As fall progresses, you will want to harvest pumpkins, butternut squash and other squash varieties, and marrows. After harvesting, let the skins dry in the sun or a ventilated greenhouse or shed and then store them away in a cool, dry place protected from direct sunlight. Continue pulling any remaining potatoes as well as beetroot and carrots. Around October, you can probably pick runner and green beans.
Green vegetables should be ready for harvesting by now too. These include leaf beet, spinach, endive, kohl rabi, and lettuce. Begin pulling fall cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, and baby turnips. If your garden still has tomato plants, dig them up and hang them upside down to let the fruits ripen. Harvested cabbages may form "mini-cabbages" on the stump after the head is removed; cutting a short, deep cross into the cut surface of the stump helps promote this phenomenon.
Later in autumn, as the year progresses into November and beyond, begin to harvest leaks, kale and other winter brassicas. Finish the harvest of cauliflower, cabbages, celeriac, broccoli, and baby turnips.
