Editor’s Note: This is a continuation of a series of articles on low cost gardening. See Tip#1 on planning; Tip #2 on Soil; Tip # 3 on Compost; Tip # 4 Tools; Tip # 5 Containers; Tip #6 Seeds; Tip #7 Pollinators; Tip #8 Other Amendments; Tip #9 Mulch; Tip #10 Pesticides.
Gardening can be done on any scale you choose. You can start small and gradually increase your garden. You can grow your potted garden plants inside your house, or on a balcony, if you have no room elsewhere. You can till hectares of soil or plant an entire grove of trees. Whatever scale you want, there’s a way to garden or farm at that level.
Gardening and farming have associated costs. If you’ve got the budget, you can afford the time-saving products and devices within your means. If you don’t have the budget, don’t give up! There are a lot of ways to garden with very low or no expenditure of funds.
A lot of what I’m sharing here is information I’ve gleaned from obsessive watching of YouTube videos, reading lots of articles and plant studies, and my own successes and failures. I am not an expert gardener — far from it! Just sharing what I’ve learned.
Here’s hoping these tips help.
Tip #11: Harvest
THE payoff of gardening is the harvest! Nothing tastes better than homegrown fruits and vegetables. When you’re planning, you can estimate when you’ll have a harvest. If you use seed packets, they generally tell you how long until harvest is expected. If you’re growing from local or store-bought produce or sources without seed packet information, you’ll need to research how long it takes to get to harvest time.
Some plants produce everything at once. Some produce over a time period that can last weeks or months. It can be tricky knowing when to harvest. If you are an inexperienced gardener, you may harvest too soon. Or too late. Do your homework for the varieties of crops you’ve planted, so you know what they might look like at the best time to harvest. Some plants like zucchini will keep producing if you harvest before the fruits/vegetables get too large and form seeds. Also, some crops do well if harvested in dry conditions and not wet, (where you might spread diseases or cause other problems). Or like tomatoes, may need to be harvested before too much rain causes them to swell and split. As strange as it seems, you can make mistakes in harvesting, so do your research! But no matter what, there is a unique thrill to harvesting your produce!
While it seems to invite bad luck to count on a bumper crop, it is necessary to plan ahead what you’ll do if your harvest does come in. This is another time you will want to use your gardening scissors or other pruning tool to avoid damage to the produce and the plants that may still produce more. Or if you’re picking fruits from a tree, use a handy tool for reaching them and plucking them without letting them get bruised or broken in the fall.
Do you have a basket or bucket or pan or colander or some container, even a box, in which to collect your vegetables? Do you know how to wash them (and have you applied any pesticides or other foliar sprays to consider before using the harvest)?
What will you do with them? Do you want to eat them right away? Share with friends and family? Barter for something else? Sell them? (You need a business license.) Can or preserve them to have them available to use at a later time? Pickles, anyone?
Will you use canning jars and need metal lids and a way to process your jars? Need a jar tongs? Need a wide-mouth canning funnel? Will you be freezing and need zip lock freezer bags or other freezer safe containers? Do you want to dry your vegetables or make them into powders for easy storage (in case of the apocalypse).
Cheap and easy: Get some recipes before your harvest that incorporate the fruits and vegetables you will be using. You may be a great cook, but there’s always more to learn. Recipes are generally available for free from friends and family and from numerous online websites and YouTube channels. Plan meals based on harvest and what’s available!
All of this needs to be part of your plan!
While harvest is the payoff, not every crop will meet your expectation. Sometimes you’ll find that you don’t like the taste or texture of what you have reaped. But other produce from your efforts may be so delicious you want to plant them again and again. Remember to note these results in your notebook or gardening journal, so that when you plan for your next growing season, you are one step ahead!
You can also save your seeds! This will help reduce the cost next year, but be sure to do your homework. Under- stand cross-pollination and avoid problems. Research about hybrids and generally you don’t want to save these, either. See Tip #6. Or watch another video for a quick refresher.
John from http://www.growingyourgreens.com/ shares with you 10 harvesting mistakes new gardeners can make when picking their herbs and leafy green vegetables they grew in their garden.
In this episode, you will learn some mistakes that can reduce the size of your harvests and how much yield you can produce when growing leafy green vegetables and herbs in your garden.
First, you will discover why every gardener should grow leafy greens and herbs in their garden and eat them regularly.
Next, you will learn how these 10 mistakes can lower the yield of leafy greens and herbs and production you will get out of your garden.
The 10 Mistakes are
Not walking your garden daily to see what’s happening
Not Harvesting Often Enough
Not Having the Proper Tools
Harvesting the whole plant instead of leaves or tips
Not harvesting the right size leaves for the intended purpose
Overharvesting
Underharvesting
Not Training Plant to grow vertically (keep off ground)
Not using proper harvesting technique for each plant
Not composting all excess garden scraps/harvest waste
After watching this episode, you will learn more about some of the benefits of eating more plants in your diet and some of the changes that can occur when you do so. You will learn how John chooses to eat as well as what he would do if he was in charge of diet guidelines.
Related Episodes
How to Sustainably Harvest Greens from Your Garden
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When harvesting you don’t want to make this mistake. It can damage or even kill your plants. Use pruners or a knife to harvest always.
FRUIT PICKER FROM WASTE PLASTIC BOTTLE
Are you tormented by ripe fruit that’s out of reach on high branches? Would you love to put that fruit to use, but just can’t get to it? Follow these easy steps on how to make a fruit picker and you won’t have to watch fruit rot on a tree again.
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MIND YOUR TIME
What is canning? Why can your own food? How do you start canning and what tools do you need? This is a comprehensive learning to can video that attempts to give a basic understanding of home canning using both a water bath canner and a pressure canner. We cover several types of canning methods, what is approved and not approved by the USDA, how to read canning recipes, and common questions and problems.
*Note we are not master canners. This is simply a starting place to introduce tools, equipment, terminology, and resources so a beginner canner has a base knowledge for doing research.
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Food in Jars: http://foodinjars.com/recipe-index/
Canning Granny: http://canninggranny.blogspot.com/
Healthy Canning: http://www.healthycanning.com/recipes/
*Beware that some sites may contain recipes that are not approved by the USDA
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We are taking you along on our journey to become more self reliant and self sustainable. Join us as we build our skills in the areas of canning, prepping, gardening, woodworking, and learning old time methods of living.
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🌱Introduction 00:00
🌱Advantages of seed saving 00:41
🌱Principles of seed saving 01:13
🌱Self-pollinated seeds 01:45
🌱Open-pollinated seeds 01:58
🌱Cross-pollination 02:14
🌱Heirloom seeds 02:44
🌱Hybrid seeds 02:54
🌱Which seeds to save 03:13
🌱Seed saving examples 04:09
🌱How to save wet seeds 08:17
🌱How to save dry seeds 09:00
🌱How to store harvested seeds 09:14
Learning how to save seeds gives you a nearly-continuous supply of seeds that are adapted to your area at little or no cost.
When a plant produces seeds, that normally completes the life cycle of the plant. Harvesting and saving seeds from your plants is a simple process, a great way to save money, and very rewarding.
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Thanks for watching!
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