Gardening Question

K.:

You can pick cucumbers when they are the size that you prefer. The bigger they are the bigger the seeds are inside. On the peppers, if you pick them too early they will be bitter in taste. They are ready when they feel really firm. Kinda hard. They won't give when you squeeze them a little. Hope this helps.

C.- working mom of 2-ages 10 & 7, married for 13 years. Daughter of produce grower & veternarian.

I have always picked my peppers when they are still firm but give slightly when gently sqeezed. I know that doesnt make much sense but the sides should give alittle. They will not be as large as the ones in the stores but if they smell like peppers and are what you would call a good size they are probably ready. I have 4 that are almost ready so this is about the right time for them to come off the vine. If you leave them on longer they will turn to red bell peppers sometimes. The cucumber I am not sure. I think they should be dark green and firm. They will break from the vine fairly easy if they are ripe.

Hi K.,
My name is M. V. and when to pick peppers and cucmbers in my experience is personal perference. I personally do not like my cucumbers too large because they have more seeds in them and the flavor is not quite as good if they become too large.
Hope this is of some help.Good Luck.
M. V.
Melaleuca-The Wellness Company

K.,

I know I'm a bit different... but I pick (I don't use clippes to pick them, I'm just careful not to hurt the plant) my pepper whenever I'm hungry for one or need one. Some of them I let turn the other colors (red, purple, yellow orange) depending on what I have planted... right now I have about 8 different kinds of peppers planted - only because I like all the diffent color, shapes, tastes and hot/mildness.

Cucs are a bit different they can get over rip and really bitter. Depending on what kind you planted - striaght 8's get to be 6-10 inches, were as picklers only get about 4-5 inches... I usually pick mine when they look kinda pudgy or nice an full. Don't let them turn yellow or they will be bitter - make sure they are nice and green... unless your like me and plant odd things like Middle Eastern cuc's along with the normal ones.

Most people laugh at my garden - only because I have about 15 kinds of tomatoes, 8 kinds of peppers, 4 kinds of squash, 4 kinds of "green" beens, 4 kinds of cucs, 4 kinds of eggplant along with sweet potatoes, brocclii, cabage, brosel sprouts, and peas. And some of the stuff I plant I don't like - but my neighbors do and they don't like to garden or don't have enought sun to garden... so I plant for them too.

I do want to say you are teaching you little ones a good lesson - and I hope you have fun with it. Every year I try a new kind of plant(s) - this year is sweet potatoes and peas... because it's something new to learn about. Sometimes they work out - sometimes they don't, but it's fun trying.

Enjoy your fresh veggies... there is nothing better then a veggies you plant, grow and pick to put on the table! Home grown always taste better!

Good for you!
I usually try to pick green peppers when they are about the size of my fist.
As far as cucumbers, don't let them get too big! Try the length of your hand from wrist to fingertip. Experiment-taste them at 3-4 inches.

Good luck!

YES. WAIT until they grow bigger. THEY will. Might want to think about letting the kids choose "1 new thing" each year to try & grow. GREAT experiences for them and they get to experience something new each year. Might even be sunflowers and then they can have sunflower seeds. Anyway......my niece & nephew have done this for years. Fun learning experiences for all.

Think about trying different variety of peppers, etc too for the future. i.e. I'm not a hot pepper fan, but really like banana peppers. Red peppers are you highest natural source of vitamin C. Make it a nutritional learning experience, too. Find out the "value" of what you're growing. Makes it more fun AND more meaningful! These kids are NOT too young to learn nutrition.

I taught pre-school to 3's & 4's. We had cooking and nutrition class EVERY day. These are daily decisions people have to make every day for the rest of their lives. START training and educating EARLY!!! They won't end up with the health & obesity problems that many kids are facing today.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!!

You've got lots of good answers already for picking instructions, so I won't touch that issue. But, I wanted to share that we are growing little yellow tomatoes this year--I don't remember the name of them, but they are an heirloom variety--and they are oh, soo sweet. Even my daughter (age 4 next week)) likes them and she has never liked tomatoes. We haven't had any for our salads yet, because the kids pick them off the vine and eat them right away! ( I don't use chemical fertilizers.)

Just wanted to pass that along.
Have fun with your garden.
Laura

The size of the pepper at maturity will depend on what variety you bought. If you know, you can google it and get an estimated size. Otherwise, pick one that looks good and give it a try!

Cucumbers can be picked at almost any size. The smaller/thinner they are, the sweeter they will be and the seeds will be smaller. Squash works the same way, fyi.

:-)

I'm sort of a rookie at this myself, so I'm sort of guessing here. I do know that the peppers you get out of your garden aren't as big as the ones in the store. Especially if you didn't use any kind of fertilizer. I'm interested to see what kind of responses you get. I bet they'll help me too! ;D

Thanks for posting this! I am learning about gardening as a newly-discovered hobby for myself! I am especially interested in container gardening including veggies / fruit that are able to be grown in containers! I'm anxious to see replies to your post! I'll be following along!

FYI the leaves on the tomato plant are posionious. Good luck with your garden.

Hi K. great idea Educational as well as the added benefit of feeding the family. I don't know a whole lot about that type of gardening but have heared things like Cucumbers and zuchini you don't want to get huge. They are bitter tasting and tough. I would say play it by ear. If they start looking welted pick them because they are drying out. Call the local county extention. I know they can tell you all sorts of questions as to what grows in the area and what time to harvest. There should have been some info on the seed packs as to how many days but you still need to play it by ear. I do know the sooner they come off the more (larger harvest ) you will get because there is usually plenty of time for 2 for 3 growths. Tomatoes will of course turn red. Try to get them before they split which they will do it they get too much water after they start to turn red.
My husband "farmer brown" said the peppers and cucumbers wil turn green. As you can see from that he is not a farmer. First garden he planted after our marriage duid not grow except for beets which I refuse to eat. He made me can/ pickle them the most gross thing I ever did. He liked them but was mad more didn't grow.

Hi K.,

Green peppers will get as big as the ones in the stores. If you let tem stay on the vine a while longer they will turn red and be sweet red peppers. Cucumbers, I would suggest picking them when they are about six inches long. They are better tasting than if you let them get real long.
I'm glad you planted these things to show your kids. It's great for them to learn. I also think that pepper plants are some of the prettiest plants and sometimes I put them in with my flowers because their so pretty. Good luck.
SAHM of three 14,9,4 and very happily married.

My peppers never get as big as the ones in the grocery store. Green peppers are immature, and if left on the plant will turn red, yellow, purple or brown, depending on their variety. I would caution you against leaving them too long, though--if they mature, they might stop producing. If a plant is allowed to "set seed" it often is done for the season. Same with the cukes--pick them small!

If you have more questions, find a gardening message board. There are several good ones where you can get your specific questions answered by other posters. Gardenweb is very active; I prefer the AOL forum style--fewer posters there but once you read a post it doesn't show again. (unless you look for it)
This is the most active board there: http://messageboards.aol.com/aol/en_us/articles.php?board...

K. glad your garden is doing good. As for the cucumbers you don't want them to get real big become thay will be full of seeds and won't taste as good. around 3-4 in around is nice size. as for peppers pick when around size of store ones or little smaller not to small or theres' not a good flavor.Good luck

K.-
Cudos to you for teaching your children where their food comes from!! Too many people don't take the time with their kids to offer these wonderful life lessons. I'm a life-time gardener and try to grow as much food as I can in my organic garden (but I have competition rom the deer). As for your question about when to pick peppers...they may not grow to full size like in the grocery store, so you might want to pick one and try eating it. Peppers that are not ripe will just not be very juicy & crisp (sort of limp). If you still have the seed package, you could look to see what the expected maturation time is. As for the cucumbers, pretty much same thing. You dont want to let them go too long (they will get HUGE!) or the seeds inside get hard and the eating experience is not good. Enjoy your garden! This has been a great summer for gardening!

Hi K.,
we are actually growing alot of our own food this year, corn,g.beans, tomatoes, cumbers,w.melon, zuccini, ect. for the peppers pick one closer to the middle, after you wash it really well & clean the seeds out of theinside, if it tastes bitter/sour then it's too soon. my grandmother lets them get to be about 4-5 inches in height before she picks hers & they are really really good. for the cucumbers, it all depends on what you want to use them for. if you're going to eat them as cucumbers it's best to wait until they are 7-9 inches long, if you're going to make pickles, then you pick them between 2-5 inches long. good luck & great idea for getting your family involved.

Hi K.,
I agree with Dianne S. We are some what beginners to the gardening thing as well. The green peppers you don't want to PICK, you got to take gardening clippers and cut at an angle or they won't taste as good. I learned that from Googling! That is a very useful website. You can also try gardeningguide.com, gardeningknowhow.com, helpfulgardener.com, yougrowgirl.com, almanac.com, and veggiegardeningtips.com just to name a few that helps us out. Did you know that if you put red paper or something red around your tomato plant it will believe it has to compete against anything else, this helps it grow faster and redder! The cucumbers usually can be picked when you want to pick them. The sooner the sweeter..too large will cause them to have too many seeds. Next year you should try beans for the kids and sunflowers...they love that...if you plant them next to each other you can actually make a dome for your kids to play in!!Very fun and guess what, while at play they got snacks in the dome!! We did last year and the kids loved it. We have done all kinds of plants, from sunflowers and beans to tomatoes, cucumbers, sweetpeas, lettuce, raddishes, watermelon, pumpkins, this year we're doing corn as well as broccoli and cauliflower. :) Good Luck!

Hi K.. How fun that you are growing a garden with your kids! I hope you all enjoy it & that it becomes a yearly tradition.
I come from a family of gardeners so have grown up with it, but I am not by any means an expert. I am only growing a few tomato plants & some peppers myself. I picked my first pepper last night to use in our dinner! It was actually supposed to be a red pepper, & if you let them go longer, they eventually will turn red, but I needed it, so I picked it green. It was about the size of a pepper you would find in a store, maybe a little smaller. I suppose that the peppers you find in stores have had fertilizer so they may run bigger than the ones you plant at home. I cut it off the plant with kitchen scissors.
I haven't grown cucumbers, but I know you are supposed to pick them while they are still kinda small, otherwise the taste will be off. When we were kids, we used the ones that got too big to make "boats" by cutting them in half & scooping out the seeds. Then we would float them in mud puddles. LOL. :)