The type of vegetable/herb, the time of sowing, weather conditions and, of course, care; these are all factors that affect not only harvest time, but also yield. Of course, to know the best time to cut, pick or pull your tomatoes, leeks, lettuce and so on, you mostly rely on your own judgment. A tomato that is nice and red and firm can be picked. But sometimes it is a little more difficult to determine and in that case you can use a sowing and harvesting calendar.

Preserving vegetables and herbs

It is and always will be tastiest to take vegetables and herbs from the garden and use them immediately. But, of course, that is not always possible. Fortunately, there are many ways we can preserve our harvest and use it at a later time. For example, fresh herbs can be dried and vegetables can be pickled or frozen.

Drying

To dry herbs, proceed as follows:

• Wash the herbs well and drain them
• For leafy herbs, pluck the leaves from the stems and spread them out on a clean tea towel. Let it dry in a place not too warm (below 30 °C), not in the sun. Depending on humidity, this will take 1 to 2 days. Other herbs, such as parsley, dill, etc. are best hung in small bunches (no more than a few sprigs) tied together, upside down.
• Store the dried herbs in a dark place in an airtight jar.

Freezing

You can also freeze fresh herbs by washing them, chopping them finely and distributing them over a mold for ice cubes. Top each individual container with water and freeze.

For vegetables, freezing is also a good method where flavor and nutrients are best preserved. For example, you can peel tomatoes and freeze them whole. You can also crush whole tomatoes and freeze them as tomato paste in a bag or container. Peas (zipped) can be put in a bag in the freezer like this. Beans, broccoli and cauliflower are better blanched for a while. Carrots are also great for freezing; carrots cut into cubes or slices and can be put away in the freezer like this. Wood carrots are better blanched briefly.

Store in a cool place, such as the barn or basement

Potatoes and onions, as well as apples, for example, can be kept good for weeks if you store them in a cool, dark place. A cellar or shed is often ideal for that purpose.

Some fruits and vegetables lend themselves better to storage than others. Strawberries, for example, don't stay nice if you freeze them. But you can freeze them well if you grind them finely (for a smoothie) or in small pieces with some sugar added (for cake filling). In addition, of course, you can always make jam out of them. But for a sandwich with fresh "summer raisins" you really depend on the season.

Learning by doing

So each fruit and vegetable species has its own (im)possibilities. It would be too much to cover every species here. What works best for you is a matter of gaining experience and for each species you can always also look up on the Internet how best to store them.

By sowing and harvesting smartly, taking good care of your garden, as well as storing the harvest in the right way, you will get the most enjoyment from your edible garden/kitchen garden and benefit from it all year round!