Harvesting Herb Bunches

We grew basil, cilantro, dill, and two kinds of parsley at the farm this year. They always sold really well at market and they are a great item to have next to the cash box. If someone is buying tomatoes you can suggest a delicious basil tomato salad or some cilantro to make a fresh salsa. People were always interested in buying a bunch of fresh herbs to compliment what they were already purchasing. We also sold the herbs with a quantity discount - $3 each bunch or 3 for $8.

Harvesting was a little different for each herb:

Basil 

For creating basil bunches we would pull off select leaf stems by hand, making sure to not remove more than 1/3 of the plant at a time. The plants would continue to grow throughout the season. There were usually about 20 stems per bunch. Tie them with a rubber band and then trim the ends to be even with your knife. We would take our tote and stand it sideways on its end - then you can lay the bunches, stacking them inside the tote. Once you fill up the tote, you can stand it upright again and the bunches will all be standing up straight. Add a little water to the bottom of the tote. Try not to have the leaves stand in water as they will turn brown/black. We would also bring a shallow tray to market to put inside of our wicker basket. We would add 1/2 inch of water to the tray and stand the basil up in that - keeps it fresher longer.

Cilantro and Dill

For both of these herbs we would harvest the plant by cutting the root just below the soil surface (like in the picture above.) This way you are harvesting the whole plant instead of just individual stems. Take off any remaining cotyledons, low leaves and any dead stems. We would do maybe 15 stems per bunch. Rubber band them and trim the ends to be even with a knife. We would wash the bunches with the sprayer and then store in a tote without water.

Parsley (Curly & Flat)

For a while we were harvesting just stems and letting the plant continue to grow but half way through the season we switched to just chopping off the whole  plant, leaving about an 1 1/2 inches of plant to grow back fully. Pick out anything that is too small or brown. Also pull of any leaves that are really low, so that the rubber band doesn't cover any leaves - they will rot quicker. Band them and trim the ends. We would dip each bunch in water to remove the dirt. At market - flat sells better than curly, it has a better taste too. With my crop plan this year, I'm planning on growing just flat, no curly. But, just know your market. 

Zucchini

Costata Romanesco Zucchini - an Italian heirloom variety with a delicious nutty flavour and firm texture. We would harvest them fairly small so that they maintained that firmness and not be too watery or spongy. We would sell them at the market with the blossom still attached - a way for us to distinguish ourselves and also a great way to chat with market goers about different ways of preparing and cooking parts of the zucchini plant. One of our regulars told me about a Mexican dish of slicing up the blossoms, cooking them with onions and lots of cilantro and serving with fresh corn tortillas, yum! This variety also has ridges along the side of the fruit which makes for a beautiful shape when you slice it up. Once they got too big (if you leave zucchini - it will get bigger than your head, folks) then they make some delicious zucchini bread!

French Filet Beans

French Filet beans are meant to be picked when they are still pretty small and thin. The ones in this picture are even a little on the big size. If you pick them small, you can charge quite a bit more since it is more labour intensive. They are a big hit at the market and with restaurant chefs. Since they are so tender they are delicious raw or in a real quick pickle. The purple will lose its colour if you cook it. We grew were velour, concador and tavera varieties.

Arugula

We could hardly grow enough arugula! Always first of the greens to sell out at a market - that is if we even had any left after putting together restaurant orders.  Delicious!

When harvesting, we'd be sure to make sure we trimmed off any long stems as they are more bitter and more tough. We'd also be sure to pick out any cotyledons as they are the first to go yellow.

Beet Bouquets!

We grew three varieties of beets at the farm - the dark read are Merlins, orange are Touchstone Gold and the reddish/pink are Chioggia which are candy striped when you slice them open. 

We would bunch the three colours together - large sized beets had 3 per bunch, smaller sized beets had around 6. If the greens are yellowing or have mildew then we would chop off the green and sell them loose by the pound. With most loose items - the tend to sell faster if you pre bag them. Instead of $3/pound - make a 2 pound bag for $6 and they will fly off the stand! They also keep better with the greens off and kept in a bag, so any bunches that didn't sell, if there was no market the next day, we'd top them off and store them loose.

So delicious if you roast them of grate them fresh into a salad. Or pickle them and then put them on everything! Delicious!

Charentais Melons!

These french beauties are amazing! They are super fragrant - we grew them in a high tunnel on the Vernon site and just walking up the farm you would be overwhelmed with the sweet smell. Unfortunately, they didn't taste all that wonderful. We think it's because they were over watered and should have been pruned down to one leader. When we went out to Michael's farm on Salt Spring we tried some of his and oh goodness, they were delicious! 

I learned from a Parisian chef that used to come buy from us at the Granville Farmer's Market that you should pick a melon that both smells sweet and has a soft spot at the blossom end of the fruit. He would come each week and pick up each one, smelling and gently squeezing. 

Magnum Habanero & Paper Lantern Peppers