In this episode, we talk with returning guest Doug Oster about how to tell when fruits and vegetables are ripe and when to harvest them. The plant profile is on Okra and we share what’s going on in the garden as well as some upcoming local gardening events.
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SHOW NOTES:
01:00 Re-introducing Doug Oster
01:22 When is it ripe? When is it edible?
01:26 Doug jokes about knowing when something is ripe – “It always is a quandary.”
01:52 What most people know about produce and produce quality
02:19 Garden grown produce versus grocery store
02:27 Doug’s opinion on harvesting
02:50 Harvesting in the cool of the morning
03:06 Watering
03:24 Is it too late to harvest?
03:29 Growing and harvesting by season
04:40 Doug’s Duke’s Mayo Dip Recipe
04:51 Garden harvesting in the fall
04:48 Busy time of year for garden production
06:10 Skipping harvesting days
06:14 Check under your cucumber plant’s leaves
06:18 Growing and harvesting zucchini
06:20 Zucchini
06:40 Pollinators and zucchini growth
07:01 Problems with pollination
07:20 Pollinating by hand
07:39 Issues with squashes and watermelons due to pollination issues
07:57 Honey bees and native pollinators declining
08:04 Benefits of having honey bees in your garden
08:09 Gardening with honey bees
08:22 Cucumbers, cucumber beetles as pollinators and bacterial wilt disease
08:42 Powdery mildew issues
09:45 Scarlet runner beans and morning glory
09:58 How growing cucumbers up helps with powdery mildew
10:06 Cucumber Harvesting
10:30 Harvesting small cucumbers
11:00 You can harvest cucumbers at any stage
11:20 Harvesting cucumbers at smaller stages
12:07 Growing and harvesting okra
12:27 Uses for okra
13:25 Squash and pumpkin (relatives to cucumber and zucchini)
13:32 Eating versus storing squash
13:40 When and how to pick squash
13:57 Storing squash—“You never wanna knock the stem off of it.” –Doug
14:11 Number one winter vegetable
14:31 Cutting squash off the stem
14:40 Squash handle helps with storage
15:09 Pumpkins and the Mid-Atlantic
15:29 Harvesting early because of critters
15:33 Harvesting, ripeness and critters
16:09 Deer got into Doug’s garden
17:12 Kathy jokes about the critters waiting for ripeness with you
17:23 Ripe sugar baby watermelons ruined by critters
17:55 Pawpaw fruit
19:13 When a pawpaw is ready to be harvested
19:43 Harvesting Mulberry trees
20:16 Figs
20:31 Fig Ripeness
21:02 How Doug checks figs for ripeness
21:36 Tree Fruit Ripeness
21:48 Pear ripeness
22:00 Checking for peach ripeness
22:20 Critters indicating ripeness
22:39 Apples ripeness
24:37 Berries, ripeness and harvesting
25:36 Doug’s childhood and blackberry picking
26:05 Blueberries
26:50 Serviceberry ripeness by color
27:10 Strawberries
27:22 White strawberries
28:53 Tomatoes
29:12 Juliette Tomatoes
31:30 Green Zebra ripeness indicators
33:24 Pepper Ripeness
33:27 Pepper Ripeness phases
33:54 Doug on pepper ripeness stages
34:17 Buena Mulata Pepper
35:14 Sweet Super Chili Pepper
36:40 Tomatillo and Eggplant
37:02 When to pick tomatillos
37:24 When to pick eggplant
40:16 Root Vegetables
41:07 Doug on picking carrots and radishes early
41:24 Doug on harvesting carrots, beets and potatoes during a thaw
41:42 Harvesting radishes
42:31 Carrot shoulders
42:54 Potatoes
43:46 Sweet Potatoes
44:54 Cure time and harvesting
45:15 Curing time and garlic
46:37 Conditions needed for curing
47:52 Corn and when to pick it
48:07 Doug jokes, “The time to harvest your corn is the day before the racoons do.”
48:15 Doug shares a story about how raccoons destroyed a community garden’s corn
48:58 Things to look for when checking corn for critter damage
49:09 Corn ripeness, squeezing the kernels to check for a milky white substance
49:20 Kathy adds on how to check for corn ripeness
49:43 Why it’s tough to grow corn
50:06 Harvesting corn “The water is boiling when you go out to harvest.” –Doug
50:47 Free classes being taught by Doug every Thursday for the next nine weeks
50:52 Get in touch with Doug and classes he teaches on his website: www. dougoster.com
51:39 “Even though we are talking about harvesting, don’t stop planting. When you choose the right plant for the right place, you could be gardening year-round.” –Doug
52:33 Learn about Okra in this week’s Plant Profile
54:37 What’s new in the community garden this week
55:07 What’s new in the home garden
55:28 News in the local gardening world
If you liked this episode, you may also enjoy listening to:
~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 68: Summer Vegetables
https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2021/07/gardendc-podcast-episode-68-summer.html
~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 4: All About Tomatoes
https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2020/03/gardendc-podcast-episode-4-all-about.html
Episode Credits:
Host and Producer: Kathy Jentz
Editing: Brandie Bland
Show Notes: Brandie Bland and Jaime Breeden
(video made with @headlinervideo)
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