Vegetable Harvest

Almost every non-animal food we eat comes from a flowering plant, and such plants have predictable life cycles. Thus, so does our food grow in predictable cycles (though some of it is almost year-round, thanks to our moderate Enumclaw climate).

First come the leaves--spinach, kale, lettuce, and chard (beginning in May)

Then come more mature heads of leaves and flower heads—cabbage, romaine, broccoli, and cauliflower (late June).

Next are tender young fruits—peas, baby squash, cucumbers (July), followed by green beans and small tomatoes (late July).

Next, more mature, colorfully ripened fruits—large tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, summer squash (August to September)

Finally, the large, hard-shelled fruits with developed seeds inside—pumpkins and other winter squash (October)

The root crops—beets, carrots, onions, potatoes—are protected in the ground and can be harvested through the summer and into the winter months (June through February)

Adapted from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
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