Is It Ripe?

Even the most experienced homegrowers get a little apprehensive when harvest time comes around. You’ve spent so much time and energy and money to grow beautiful produce and now the moment of reckoning is at hand. Savvy shoppers looking for the best produce have similar concerns as they peruse the aisles. It is ripe and ready to be picked or bought. Or is it? Maybe that tomato will be bigger or sweeter on Tuesday than it was on Sunday. Or maybe it will soften too much or fall off the vine or split, or wrinkle up in the produce bin. You know that once you make the decision to pluck your fruit from the vine or buy there is no going back. So you want to make sure you are doing it at the right time.
 
Square Foot Gardening: Growing Perfect Vegetables helps you prepare for those moments of decision-making in your garden and at the market. Inside, you will find hundreds of beautiful photos that show you what your cherished produce should look like when it is ready for picking and buying, along with tips and clues to help you interpret what your plants are trying to tell you. Whether you garden in a Square Foot box, plant a conventional garden, or stick to the grocery-store produce section, ripe is ripe. This visual guide is your tool for picking and buying produce with confidence.