Down the Garden Path: Harvest produce well for longer post-harvest life

With September here and gardens producing in full swing, gardeners have been able to harvest the fruits of their labor. While harvesting, discovering that you overplanted is a common issue, especially when everything is ready at once or your zucchini are prolific, as many gardeners have reported this year.

What do you do with 15 zucchini the size of an infant?

Many of us end up with more produce than we can use. This becomes a blessing for neighbors, friends, co-workers, food pantries, community tables and others who usually benefit from the gifted overflow. This also can be a curse if your network also has producing gardens. Storing produce longer can aid in the need to consume the produce with a quick turnaround time. Some vegetables and fruit can be stored weeks to months after harvest, depending on the specific produce, how it is stored and how it is harvested.

The quality of harvested produce follows an 80/20 rule. Most of what happens after it is harvested, 80%, is decided by pre-harvest factors such as genetics, environmental and cultural factors. The remaining 20% is determined by how the produce is handled after harvest.

Home gardeners often pick specific fruit and vegetable varieties for their flavor, fresh consumption or preservation needs. They don’t pick varieties for their built-in resistance to diseases or response to natural environmental conditions.

We have yet to figure out how to control the weather or manage outdoor conditions. How gardeners respond to fluctuating natural conditions, such as high winds or drought, can give plants a fighting chance. These cultural responses are the things we can control: irrigation, fertilizing, pulling weeds, season extension or using pesticides, and choosing when and how to plant and harvest.

Although the 80% pre-harvest factors may have more influence, the post-harvest 20% can make a significant difference with produce.

Tips to improve post-harvest quality and extend shelf life:

• Take care to prevent dropping, bruising or picking injuries.
• Harvest produce during the cool part of the morning to limit heat damage. Shade fruit if is left outside if picking large quantities at once.
• Store similar produce together for optimum temperature and humidity requirements in refrigerator crisper drawers.
• Store ethylene-producing produce (apples, melons and tomatoes) and ethylene-sensitive produce (peppers, green beans, cucumbers and lettuce) separately.

Ethylene is the natural gaseous plant hormone mostly responsible for ripening. When a fruit or vegetable is injured, four things happen: increased ethylene production, increased rate of respiration, increased water loss and the creation of an entry point for pathogens.

Taking these factors into consideration as you harvest should help your produce have a longer post-harvest life and give you time to plan how to best enjoy your harvest. Given the investment of the time, money, sweat and even tears you put into your garden, getting extra time to savor their flavors just makes gardening sweeter.

For more information on post-harvest, check out the University of Illinois Extension’s Growing Vegetables website.

• Bruce J. Black is the University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator serving Carroll, Lee, Whiteside, Boone, DeKalb and Ogle counties. Black’s primary areas of expertise are in fruit and vegetable production, plant propagation, and community and youth garden education.