When should carrots, cucumbers, radishes, and other garden treasures be harvested?

...whenever you want! Carrots left in the ground will simply grow larger, if you can be that patient. But even when pulled out of the ground young, they’ll still be crunchy and sweet. Nevertheless, it’s still recommended to wait until at least the middle of the summer they can enjoy a good amount of time in the soil.

The situation is the same for almost all other root vegetables, such as turnips and beets. But be careful not to wait too long, otherwise these root vegetables may become too woody! This is, however, merely a question of taste, since they’ll still be edible.

Recipe idea: Maple-glazed carrots

Harvest garlic…

...at the end of July or early August. This is when the green parts will start to turn yellow.

...as you need it. As soon as the outer leaves are big enough, you can cut them, being careful to leave the plant’s inside leaves intact, since these will take more time to develop. Unfortunately, if the plant has put out a flower shoot from the centre, this means it’s too late for harvesting, since the leaves will have a distinctly bitter flavour. But you can simply start growing new lettuce plants, which can be sown any time right up until September.

When their leaves begin to wither, either partly or completely, you can dig these precious tubers up out of the ground.

Recipe idea: Oven-baked tarragon fries

Beans should be eaten before they’re fully mature. Otherwise their pods become tough and the beans within will be fibrous. The same principle applies to snow peas (which should be harvested when they look like the ones in the supermarket).

Recipe idea: Savoury beans

When should onions be harvested?

When the green tops have dried and collapsed, your onions are ready. Here’s a trick to increase their storage time: When you’ve taken them out of the ground, leave them to dry in the sun for a few days before storing them in the pantry.