Need Help on when to pick

[Tink]

Hey guys and girls!! We have planted lots of things this year for the first time. Our problem is, when are things ready to pick? I cut open a watermelon and it was still green inside, i picked a cantleloup and it was just turning....So, please tell me when there things are ready:

Potato
Watermelon
Cantleloup
corn
onions

Thanks
Tink

 

[bunch-a-chickens]

on the back of most seed packets it should tell you. you should be able to peek in on the corn and see if it has filled out yet. What kind of onion? and I haven't had any experiences with the others

 

[punkin]

Potato - when the vines yellow and die back and the ground is cracking at the base

Watermelon - hard to judge, I wait until it has a nice creamy underbelly and the vine starts to brown a little where it attaches (sometimes still a crap-shoot)

Cantaloupe - when they are no longer green and have a distinct texture to them, the vine also withers somewhat where it is attached

Corn - after the silk on the ear has browned an the ear feels full, you can sneak a peak by gently pulling back the husk to see how full the kernels are

Onions - usually when the greens start to fall over and the bulb is showing from the ground

Congrats on your first garden!!:tools

 

[bunch-a-chickens]

Your may begin to harvest your potatoes 2 to 3-weeks after the plants have finished flowering. At this time you will only find small "baby" potatoes if you were to dig up a plant. Potatoes can be harvested any time after this, by gently loosening the soil, reaching under the plant, and removing the largest tubers, leaving the smaller ones to continue growing.
If you want late potatoes for storage, wait 2-3 weeks after the foliage dies back. Carefully begin digging a foot or so outside of the row or mound. Remove the potatoes as you find them. (Be careful not to bruise or cut the tubers with your spade!) If the weather is dry, allow the potatoes to lay on the soil surface, unwashed, for 2-3 days so they can dry. If the weather is wet, or rain is expected, move the harvest to a cool, dry area (like a garage or basement) for the drying period. This drying step is necessary to mature the potato skin, which will protect the potato during storage.
If, by the end of September, the plants have not begun to die back, all of the foliage should be cut off to ensure your crop has ample time to mature before winter.

 

[Tink]

Thanks everyone....i am printing this out. We planted the potato's in the tire way so they will be easy to harvest. On the onions....are you suppose to pull the dirt away from the onions so they get bigger?
Tink

 

[bunch-a-chickens]

I don't. do you know what kind of onion it is?

 

[punkin]

I don't either, but I know people who do.

 

[Tink]

Hey...The onions are either brown or red onions. I don't remember if the guy said that you were suppose to start pulling the dirt away so that the onion could grow fuller.
tink

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

You do want to keep dirt away from the base of the onion, that is correct. This will encourage more lateral growth and keep your onions looking good too. Normally if the soil around the bulb is loose enough you shouldn't have to do any work because the onion will naturally expand and push away the soil. If this is the case then you should be fine as long as you don't pile soil on the onion.