Harvesting
Harvesting times are dependent on the weather, soil type and timing of crops. Fruit must always be ripe before picking as the sugars will not develop after picking. All seed packets have a time for harvest on each vegetable, but this is a guide and depending on the weather and soil type it may be sooner or later.
It is better to harvest in the morning and store veggies in the fridge. Fruit will need to be kept in air conditioning or eaten soon after harvest.
Note that some oranges and mandarins may still be green when they ripen. The skin will not turn orange but remain green at harvest time, this is very common in tropical areas.
Peas, beans, zucchini, tomato, eggplant, chilli and capsicum will crop more the more you pick. Once the harvesting is over, plant out a different crop in that area – see Crop Rotation.
