When To Harvest?

[extraterrestrial]

I am growing veg for the first time, and I have no idea when to harvest. I have listed all below and attached pictures too. I hope you can help. Also any tips on how to keep insects from eating at them would be greatly appreciated.

I have:

Boltardy beet
White Lisbon onion
Little Gem lettuce
Amsterdam Forcing 3 carrot
Charlotte potatoes
Sunrise potatoes
Maris Piper potatoes
Stir-fry leaf salad

[Alison]

Hello ET and welcome along

Re harvesting, looking at your pics I suggest the following:

Boltardy beet - when the beets are the size you want them, yours look a bit close together so suggest you pull some small and let others grow on

White Lisbon onion - again when they're the size you want, mine always seem to take forever and then put a sprint on but you can use them from very small to quite bulky without spoiling

Little Gem lettuce - these look a bit close too, ideally I grow mine about 8" apart if I want full lettuces but yours look like they'd make a lovely cut and come again so you could give it a hair cut now and use the lettuce and then let it have another flush of growth and repeat so long as you don't pull the roots out. Alternatively you could pull some plants out totally and eat and leave the others to heart up. Either way is good.

Amsterdam Forcing 3 carrot - these may be too close, difficult to see from your piccie but if you pull a couple up you'll see if they're forming roots. Ideally they need a bit of space around them to enable them to swell but baby carrots are rather lovely and can be much closer together

Charlotte potatoes - wait unitl the foilage dies down or if you really can't wait have a furtle under the plant and see if there is anything much there. If not then walk away for a couple of weeks.

Sunrise potatoes - wait until the foilage dies down

Maris Piper potatoes - as above

Stir-fry leaf salad - this looks like it's flowering so has gone over a bit, pull up the flowering (bolted stuff) and taste to see if it's bitter. If not then eat, if it is then bin.

Looks to me like with the exception of things being a bit close together you're doing OK

[extraterrestrial]

Hi Alison.

Thank you for all of your help. I will probably take up some of the beets & little gem lettuces and leave the rest with more space to grow. These were some of my earlier tries and I had seeded far too many and didn't want them to go to waste, so I hoped it wouldn't matter too much to put a few extra in each tub. I plant my seeds far more scarcely now, so as too only end up with the amount I need.

I wasn't sure on the potatoes, as some people I knew who grew had said that I should let them flower and then go away before harvesting, but I'd also read on the internet that it is best to take up some varieties early - so I was left feeling rather dazed and confused.

Yes, the stir-fry leaf salad has flowered quite heavily, so I will take up some and try it now for taste.

I am very much looking forward to harvesting them, I'm sure it will feel even more rewarding that it already does! And I know it will be far more delicious than anything you can buy in a supermarket.

I will post and say how I got on with it all, but I am very appreciative for the help.

Thanks,
Yvonne.

[oldie]

I think Alison's review is spot on. I often pick the outer leaves from the lettuce first. It will still grow on.

[gojiberry]

Not all potatoes flower so not a good indicator for when to harvest. The ideal way is to note when planted and then work on the number of weeks in the ground/planter. Charlotte need 12/14 weeks, maris piper I think is main crop so wait till foliage starts to die down, don't know about sunrise.
welcome to the vine E T.

Ian

[toastie]

Lifted our Charlotte pots over weekend but, unlike yours, the foliage had died down - yours still look green and healthy. Have grown the same spring onions and they are thickening up a treat but have picked another variety first as they are thicker and ready. Don't mean to question you but the lettuce seems more like All The Year Round variety as the leaves are looser and can be picked individually - only a thought. I tend to pull up beetroot when they're not too big as they cook easier and taste better - but as suggested pull out some smaller to make more room for the others to grow. Good luck.