Harvest

This page is under development–Stay tuned!  (Contact hestrin@uvm.edu if you would like to contribute! )

Harvesting Produce–Field Notes  (Draft page–under development)

Poor harvesting practices can introduce and promote produce contamination and plant disease, and degrade its quality and shelf life.  The following are tips and strategies from VVBGA farmers on how to keep produce clean and fresh during harvest:

Keep it Cool: 

David Blaise harvesting/packing onto a mobile half-covered cart. Clean cart deck keeps box-bottoms clean for future stacking, and canopy helps keep produce cool.

Maintaining the “cold chain” of perishable produce–from harvest to table –will greatly reduce bacteria grow. spoilage, and increase product quality, safety and shelf life.

Most farmers harvest highly perishable greens in the cooler morning hours and never leafy this product in the sun or wilting heat.

Keep it Clean:

Keeping above-ground produce as clean as possible during and after harvest  provides many benefits including reduced food safety risk and product wash time, and increase self life and quality.  Here are some methods that VVBGA folks use:

Mulching

Rye strips (kale and strawberries)

box slides

carts/wheelbarrow to hold harvest crates/boxes

Sanitize cutting tools to reduce plant disease.

Dedicated non-porous harvest totes–clean between use as practical.

Dedicated harvest bins at Joe’s Brook Farm, Drying between use on crushed gravel pad, under a shed roof.