After just over a month of growing vegetables in Steve’s Garden, it’s time to celebrate a major milestone: the first tomato has officially been picked! Gardening experts say timing is key when it comes to picking tomatoes and peppers. Picking produce as soon as it’s ripe helps protect it from squirrels, birds and other hungry visitors while also encouraging the plant to produce even more fruits and vegetables.

Gardening Tips

Mike Spencer with Spencer’s Produce Lawn & Garden Centers shared his expertise on picking tomatoes and peppers. “You want them to be large tomatoes and you want them turning red, not a soft red,” said Spencer. Peppers require a slightly different approach. “Yet with peppers, when you get the size that you want them, you can go ahead and pick them easily. You don’t want to pick them when they are green, you want to wait until they get dark green, most of the flavors are there by then,” added Spencer.

Steve also shared one of his favorite gardening tips for spice lovers: if you enjoy extra-hot peppers, leave them on the plant a little longer. The extended time on the vine allows them to develop a hotter, more intense flavor.

Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.