Whenever I see bundles of wilting, rubbery carrots on display at supermarkets I never fail to wonder why the leaves have not been removed.
They are almost certainly displayed like this to appear freshly harvested. This common blunder is a great disservice to hard-working farmers who grow these carrots.
Leaves still attached to carrots after harvesting continue to transpire moisture while being transported to sales outlets.
Customers, thinking they’re choosing the best, are actually taking home soft, tasteless, rubbery things that should have been chucked out.
It’s the same with other root vegetables, such as beetroot and radishes. When sold with leaves attached, crispness and flavour are always lost.
However, carrots, leaves removed, tightly packed in sealed, airtight plastic bags, remain firm, juicy and tasty.
At least we can avoid this absurd waste while harvesting our own crops.
It seems pointless to spend months sowing, planting, feeding and watering, only to ruin our efforts by incorrectly harvesting vegetables.
When I lift our carrots or parsnips, I cannot screw off the leaves quickly enough, doing so even more urgently if it is hot, breezy and sunny.
I also get all vegetables into the shade immediately after lifting and defoliating. After washing, they are placed in plastic bags in the refrigerator, where they can remain fresh and crisp for weeks.
Never use a knife or scissors to cut off the leaves of beetroot because evenly cut wounds shatter moisture-holding stem cells, which bleed profusely during cooking.
Better to twist off all leaves and stems flush with the bulbs. Even beetroot taproots are best left intact, to prevent loss of the valuable, nutritious juice.
Tomatoes have a special need to be carefully harvested. We often see them on sale labelled as sun-ripened on the vine, but this is a bit of a myth.
When fully exposed to long periods of strong, hot sunlight, tomatoes become virtually tasteless.
That’s because it is a specific temperature range that ripens tomatoes.
The best and richest flavours develop between 22-25C.
On hot summer days and in full sun, with surface temperatures can easily rise to 35C or more, leaving you with tomatoes with little taste.
They also develop hard, pale sun-scald patches on the most exposed areas, making them inedible.
Conversely, when fully coloured in conditions that are too cool, tomatoes never really ripen inside so fail to develop any flavour.
This is why the Queensland-grown tomatoes we buy in winter totally lack taste. Despite being gloriously red, they are still unripe.
This is not the growers’ fault. It’s because the tomatoes — picked green to remain firm — are transported in refrigerated trucks.
They are then stored in cool rooms until skins turn red. I call them Queensland cricket balls.
I’m harvesting our tomatoes now, picking them while fully mature and green, although the bases are becoming slightly pink.
Once brought indoors where temperatures stay about 24C, they are placed in bowls, well away from sunny windows.
Over the following few days they turn a rich red and develop magnificent flavours.
Bush or climbing beans may be picked while young and at this early “bootlace” stage they have a special, extra-sweet flavour, raw or cooked.
The big blunder is to wait until pods start to become tough and stringy.
That’s when flavour and juiciness are lost.
Also, when bean pods are allowed to become over-mature, the plants immediately stop producing.
It’s no problem to keep picking young, tender pods, even if they cannot be eaten immediately.
After all, beans freeze to perfection and make wonderful winter eating.
Our job when harvesting french or string beans is to keep the plants trying to produce more.
Cucumbers also need to be correctly harvested.
Once they achieve a decent size, cut them free while skins are dark green, perfect for eating.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you a Tassie Gardener?
Check out our Tasmanian Planting Calendar Fridge Magnet – A5 size
A year-round guide for when to plant your veggies in Tasmania. Never lose your planting guide again with a convenient fridge magnet for secure attachment to any metal surface.
This growing guide has been tried and tested by some of the best Gardener’s in Tasmania, and is specifically adapted to the Tasmanian climate.
Excellent Gift for any Tasmanian you know with green thumbs and who likes Peter Cundall as much as i do!
Make sure you follow the calendar and you will have a successful year of growing vegetables in Tasmania.