One of the most exciting times of the year for a vegetable gardener is when the fruits and vegetables are ready to harvest. At times, it can be overwhelming, especially when plants have a lot of produce that seemingly springs up overnight and needs to be harvested all at the same time. The abundance of the harvest season offers a great opportunity to be creative, share with others, and learn new skills.
One of the benefits of a good harvest is that there is often more of each vegetable or fruit than you know what to do with. This is a good time to get creative and explore new ways of using your harvest, particularly if your fruits and vegetables have a short shelf life.
For example, zucchini, frequently grown and well known for its great use in baking, is a very versatile vegetable. It can play a starring role as a side dish, such as stuffed zucchini with three cheeses, used in slow cooker recipes as a great way to add more moisture, and a great ingredient in stir fries. So when you are tired of using your usual recipes on repeat, having a plant provide a lot of vegetables over a short span of time can be great motivation to research new ways of using something and get creative.
Another great way to make sure your harvest does not go to waste is to give it to people you know, including neighbours and co-workers. There may also be local gardener groups or other groups that are active in your area that exchange the different foods that grow with one another.
If giving your excess food away still leaves you with more than you can use, preserving your produce is a wonderful skill to cultivate. Some of the techniques are pickling, which is good for short-term storage, fermentation, and freezing. The latter techniques are good for longer storage of perishable foods. Of course, there are also canning and other techniques; the options for preserving fruit and vegetables are many.
The abundance of the harvest season does not have to be one of overwhelm, boredom with using your produce in the same ways that you always have, or having your excess end up in the compost bin. Instead, this is a great time to open up and explore new ways of using your produce and developing new skills. It will also be helpful for future harvests to keep notes, such as in a garden journal or recipe book, on the new things you tried and your thoughts at the time.
Happy Harvest!
The Heron and Rose 