Granny's Garden School

Related lesson plans	Grade	When in Our Garden Cycle
Harvest the Early Spring Garden - Students learn how to identify foods that are ready to harvest and the best harvest method. Students work together to harvest and clean the harvest and finish up by sampling foods they planted in March.	1,2,3,4	May

In our zone 6 gardens, it is a challenge to have produce to harvest before the school year ends the first week in June. Our goal with the spring harvest is enough of a variety of vegetables to make a fresh garden salad for the class to share. We use this as an opportunity to expand their knowledge of what parts of a plant are edible and to share a bit about the history and nutrition of the foods.

We only harvest as much as we expect the class to eat during that class period. Produce that is not ready to harvest is left in the gardens to mature. It is used to prepare lunches for summer workshops, share with volunteers, and use in our Summer Harvest Program. Surplus is donated to a local food pantry or soup kitchen.

Tips for harvesting with a class

Sometimes, in the excitement of harvesting, you can end up with tender produce such as leaf lettuce, bruised and dirty. Take time to teach students that all produce should be handled gently so as not to bruise it. Have multiple containers so each harvested item has its own container. For example, do not mix root crops with other produce. All produce should be gently laid, not tossed, in its container.
If you have an abundance of leafy foods, assign a specific number of leaves, 3-5, for a student to harvest and rinse in a bucket of fresh water.
Students can help in the harvest preparation by cleaning their own food. Assign students to specific jobs. For example, assign students to teams - a team to clean up the area and compost the tops of the root crops, a team to wash the leafy crops, a team to wash the root crops.
To clean leafy crops: The leaves above ground are mostly clean due to rain and watering. By harvesting only the leaves instead of the entire plant, soil stays on the ground and not on the leaves. Set up a cleaning station of a series of four small clean buckets filled with fresh, clean water. Form a line of students at one end. Each student rinses a few leaves in the first bucket, then the second, third, and fourth. Drain in a colander.
To clean root crops: Set up a separate cleaning station of small buckets filled with water. Designate buckets used to gently scrub off soil (bring scrub brushes) and buckets used to rinse.
Visit Harvesting and How to Harvest for more information.

Harvesting crops from the early spring plantings

Food	Plant Part Eaten	How to Harvest
beets	root, leaves	Harvest the root when it is 1.5 inches in diameter. Harvest by holding the root and not the leaves. Pinch off young leaves to eat as greens, leaving at least 3 on the plant.
broccoli	flower, stem, leaves	Check to see if you plant is ready to harvest. Broccoli is ready to harvest when the green buds are closed and clustered somewhat tightly together and the stems are about 5 inches long. The first harvest of broccoli will be a central head. Once the head is harvested, the plant will continue to produce side stems for harvesting. Harvest the central head by cutting and the side stems by cutting or breaking off with your fingers. Tender, young broccoli leaves can also be eaten as greens by pinching them off.
Brussels sprouts	leaves	Brussels sprouts will not be ready to harvest.when the heads are about an inch in diameter. The sprouts at the bottom of the stem will be ready first. Harvest by picking individual sprouts with your fingers. Remove the leaves that were growing by the sprouts you harvested. This Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons image is freely available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brussels-sprouts-on-stalk.jpg under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
cabbage	leaves	Harvest anytime you see a firm head of cabbage by cutting the head away from the stem. Leave the plant in the ground for additional smaller heads to develop.
carrots	root	Harvest when the root is about .5 inches in diameter or when the orange top starts to show. Harvest by holding the root and not the leaves.
collard	leaves	Collard leaves can be harvested anytime in the growing season, but definitely when the leaves are 10 to 12 inches tall. Harvest the outer leaves first by pinching off individual leaves.
kale	leaves	Harvest kale any time in the growing season. Young, tender leaves are best for salads. Harvest the outer leaves first by pinching off individual leaves.
kohlrabi	stem, leaves	Harvest when the round stem is 1 to 3 inches in diameter. Harvest by holding the rounded stem and pulling out the entire plant. If the stem is too small, pinch off some of the young leaves, leaving at least 3 on the plant.
lettuce	leaves	Pinch off individual lettuce leaves. Do not pull out the plant since it will continue to produce leaves.
onions	stem, leaves, bulb	Harvest spring onions when the tops are 6 inches tall. Harvest by pulling the stem where it meets the soil.
peas, snow	fruit, leaves	Harvest as flat, tender pods before the peas develop inside. Do not pull out the plant. Hold a pea pod between the thumb and forefinger of one hand and hold the stem where the pea pod is attached to the plant with the thumb and forefinger of your other hand. Pull to separate the pod from the stem. The plant will keep producing pods. If peas have developed inside the pod before you harvest, open the pods to eat the tender peas inside. The tender, young shoots (the young top leaves and tips of the vines) and curling tendrils are also edible.
potatoes	stem	Potatoes will need the summer to fully develop. Potatoes are not ready to harvest until the plant above ground has turned brown, and this will not happen until late summer. Now, the plants are green and growing, and will set flowers in early summer. To show the students the progress, test one plant. If your potato plants have reached 8 to 10 inches in height, use a pitchfork to clear some soil to look at any developing tubers underground. Start your search at least 12 inches from the plant to avoid piercing a potato. Be sure to cover the potatoes after peeking.
radish, spring	root, leaves, fruit	Harvest the root when it is about 1 inch in diameter. If the radish feels spongy, you waited too long and it has turned fibrous. The greens are also edible, as are the smaller underdeveloped roots and the plants you remove when thinning. We'll leave some radishes, especially the large, over-ripened ones, in the ground. They'll develop flowers and seed pods. Later, we'll harvest the tender seed pods for a quick sampling.
spinach	leaves	Harvest by pinching off individual leaves or cutting off the entire plant at the ground when the outer leaves are about 6 inches long. Spinach will bolt (send up a flower stalk) as warm weather moves in. Bolting spinach becomes more tough and bitter.
turnip	leaves, root	Turnip greens can be harvested by pinching individuals when the leaves are young and tender. Leave several leaves on the plant for the root to keep growing. Harvest the root when it is 1 to 3 inches in diameter. Harvest the root by holding the root and not the leaves.