Post #65B Harvesting Flowers and Food
Post Description: Harvesting flowers and food in the south Florida forest garden.
Ah, the harvest! Although we can (and should) take pride in every step of the gardening cycle, the harvest feels so gratifying. There’s not much that can top the feeling of filling your kitchen counter with flowers and produce that you grew yourself, right out the back door no less!
In our climate we are fortunate to experience varied growing cycles throughout the year. We can grow plants that offer ongoing harvests, such as perennial greens, and staggered harvests, such as bananas, if you let a little grove form.
Although there is an ebb and flow to the seasons, if you plan your garden accordingly, in our climate you will find yourself with something to harvest most weeks of the year.
Flowers
- Be prepared – Bring a bucket of water with you and a sharp pair of pruning shears when cutting flowers and foliage for arrangements.
- Cut don’t pick – Picking can break and crush stems. Instead, cut the stems as needed.
- Take the opportunity to shape up your plants – consider the harvest a light trimming to leave the plant looking good and not open to invasion by disease. Be sure not to leave bare twigs behind unless they will sprout new leaves.
- Act fast! – Place the stems in the water immediately after cutting and do not let the bucket sit out in the sun. Get it into the shade, then into the house as soon as you can to avoid wilting. Then you can further “condition” them before arranging.
Greens
- Trim for a long harvest – Greens for food can simply be cut off the plant. Trimming stimulates growth, so the more you harvest your greens, the more the plant will produce.
- Chop it down – Some annual greens will regrow (even a few times) if you cut them off about an inch above the soil, then water and feed the plants as before.
- Pull ‘em up – You can also just pull the whole plant and replace it with something else or let another plant grow into their former spaces.
Roots
- Perennial roots – When digging roots of perennial plants like Malanga, do so slowly with a trowel, feeling around the base of the plant for the swelled corms (potato-like roots).
When you find them, carefully dig them out, leaving the rest of the plant undisturbed.
Alternatively, you can carefully uproot the entire plant, pull off the corms, and replant the plant. This is more stressful, but if you water it in well, the plant should survive. - Sweet Potatoes – Sweet Potato vines run along the ground, setting down roots here and there. Some of those roots will swell and become potatoes.
Pick the vines up gently and follow them to these rooted spots.
Feel around that spot and dig up any large enough potatoes you find, leaving the plant in place. - True Yams – True Yam vines will root all in one spot, and there will be a large pile of potatoes to harvest when the vines partially die back in the cool season.
At that point you have two options. You can either dig the whole thing out or, if the vines are in good shape, you can leave the vines where they are and cut the tops off of the more attached roots, then dig out the pile.
Lay those tops back on the ground and heap some soil over them. Water well and they will continue to grow, producing more roots the next year.
Fruits
- Bananas – Cut a bunch of bananas after the fruits have sized up and some are beginning to change color. Cut off the flower, which can be eaten if you like, and hang the stem full of fruits in a shady spot. The whole stem may take a week to ripen, but cut off the ripe ones each day and bring them inside to store – or devour!
- Citrus fruit – It comes off easily if you hold the fruit firmly, angle your wrist down to turn the fruit at the stem, and pull.
- Coconuts – twist off to avoid damage to the plant.
- Dragonfruit and Prickly Pear – These grow on cacti, so be careful when picking; long leather gloves that cover up to the elbow are handy for this.
For these and coconuts, grasp the fruit solidly in your hand, and concentrate the twist on the spot where it connects to the stem. - Jackfruit – these fruits may may fall if they over ripen, but it’s best not to wait for that because raccoons and other animals may love them as much as you and get to them first.
Cut them off when the points turn to cones and bring them in to sit on your counter. Wait to cut them open until they fill the house with their unmistakable sweet, musky scent. - Malabar Nuts – The pods will split open when ready, spilling the nuts on the ground underneath. So if you have grass under the tree, you may need to hunt a little, but it’s worth it.
- Mangoes – Harvest mangoes by shaking the branches every morning and evening. It’s a dwarf tree, so I can do this from the ground. The ones that fall are ready to bring in. I leave the rest to ripen a little more.
Berries
- Elderberries – Cut elderberry bunches when the fruit turns black, and juice them by pressing or boiling, then drain. Loquats, Lychees and Longans are also easier to harvest by cutting the bunches off the tree.
- Grumichama and Barbados Cherry – These are also soft when ripe and easily bruised. Harvest gently, at least they have no thorns!
- Mulberries and blackberries – These have to be picked individually. They need a delicate touch to prevent crushing the fruit. Most blackberry plants have vicious thorns that can break off in your skin, so use the leather gloves here, too, or just be very careful.
A word to the wise: When you buy fruit and nut trees, ask the nursery staff how and when to harvest them. Take notes so you remember how to tell when they are ready. Keep these notes in your gardening notebook for future reference.
What are you harvesting right now? How are you using your harvest? Share your favorite way to prepare the fruits of your labor in the comments below! We all love hearing from you.
All this talk of harvesting, I might just sneak outside right now and see what I can prepare for dinner tonight!
Until next time, Happy Gardening!
Mary