From the Vine to Your Table

The shortest season of the year is finally here, the time I live for: summer. We’re past the solstice, the longest day of the year, and it’s all down hill from here. In the meantime, however, I’ll enjoy sunshine and hot temperatures. Compared to the cold of winter, I even welcome the humidity .

The other big thing going on right now is that it’s time for summer vegetables. I have neighbors who are getting ripe tomatoes out of their gardens already, well ahead of the accepted July 4th goal. Soon, I’ll begin my weekly trip to Baker’s out in Scuffletown for squash, beans, peas, tomatoes and cucumbers, maybe even some of those funny looking white eggplant.

I had the opportunity to stop at A & J Produce in Victoria last week and succumbed to the aroma of the huge mound of cantaloupes right out front of the market…yummy. Don’t know where they from, didn’t ask.

There’s no better place to harvest veggies and melons than your own garden, but lacking that, seek out those markets that sell local produce rather than those with trucked-in stuff.  It’s easy to tell the difference; when the tomatoes are being sold from a box labeled “Product of Florida,” pass them by and wait for the good ones from just down the road.

Even local vegetables must be handled properly to present the best quality though. They taste better only if they are harvested at their prime and sold quickly. The enemies of great taste, however produced, are degree of ripeness at harvest, time since harvest, temperature, and water loss. Sweet com plucked and cooked immediately is far better than that left on the porch a day or two before cooking. Without immediate cooling, sweet com may lose 50% of its sugar in 24 hours.

Tomatoes harvested when still a bit green and placed in the refrigerator never taste as good as if they are fully ripened on a window sill before refrigerating. Squash and cucumbers mature very quickly and will become tough and tasteless when left on the plant too long before harvesting. Beans become leathery if left too long on the plant; lettuce loses its crispness; beets, carrots and turnips become pithy. Some vegetables like tomatoes and okra cannot be kept too cold after harvesting or they lose taste and quality. Others like sweet com and melons must be kept very cold to prevent loss of sugar and taste.

After harvesting, handle vegetables with great care.

Hot summer  weather quickly ruins many vegetables after you remove them from the plant. Sweet corn, lettuce and melons continue to mature after harvesting.  Asparagus, okra and beans lose moisture quickly and become tough.  This won ‘t happen if you harvest at the best stage of maturity, never leave freshly harvested vegetables in the sun, cook quickly or prepare for the table whatever you are going to eat the same day that you harvest, and properly handle surplus which will be eaten later.  This is hard to do, I know, when you’re buying your produce from farmers’ markets. Just remember to use what you buy as soon as possible.  Don ‘t forget to thoroughly wash all fruits and vegetables when you get them home, removing dirt and chemical residues.

A good habit to practice is to plunge market purchases into very cold water for twenty minutes before refrigerating. Ideally, the produce was harvested the same morning you bought it, but even sitting in the morning sun for a couple of hours will continue the ripening process, and that’s what you want to stop. The cold water bath will take most of the heat deep within the vegetable or fruit and stop further ripening. This is especially

important to prevent corn from losing sweetness and becoming tough and melons from becoming mushy inside. Lettuce will begin to rot in the center when this interior growth point is not sufficiently chilled. Refrigerate vegetables in the crisper or in tightly closed plastic bags which prevent dehydration. Give those Forever Bags a try; I’m told they work really well to preserve freshness for a long time.

Tomatoes, everybody’s favorite, are an exception to the rule, however. The last few days on the vine in the hot sun are critical times when bruising, cracking and worm damage can be bad, so it’s better to harvest them before they’re fully ripe. Place them on a counter top or bright window sill to finish ripening, then refrigerate.

White bread, mayonnaise, sliced tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cucumbers sliced with green peppers and tomatoes, awash in vinegar and a sprinkle of sugar and pepper. Sliced yellow squash, fried with fresh onions. Snaps and new potatoes cooked together with a piece of ham for flavor. New English peas and homemade dumplings.

Hungry yet?