It’s not uncommon to hear or see community contests judging the size of fruits and vegetables that are grown. This can be a fun novelty but have you ever tasted one of the prize winning subjects. Its texture may not be that favorable, and its taste may not be that enticing. But why? It’s certainly grand in all other respects. That’s because size certainly does matter when growing your produce.
Fruit and vegetable size matters in terms of nutrients
Prime and ideal harvest times are in place to yield the most flavorful product, not the biggest. More times than not, if you’ve let your produce grow past its peak, yes it will continue to grow although it will start to lose other essential qualities. Textural ripeness may begin to either get to soft or to hard depending upon the product. Some of its appeal will begin to be lost to sheer size.
The trade-off is fairly simple, when you grow for size you sacrifice other key elements. Peak seasons produce the most ideal products. Perfect skin texture is achieved. Especially if the growing season was ideal, offering the perfect environment for your crop. This is when the correct and best tastes and textures are achieved for your consumption or sale.
So, although novelty produce may be fun to grow and show. That’s really all it’s good for. The community fairs where a gargantuan squash or enormous pumpkin can be entered into a contest to be judged for weight, shape, and size.
For the most effective growing techniques, it’s best that you stick to the recommended instructions for that particular product. This will provide you with the best results in regards to the proper taste and texture of your fruits and vegetables. For the most accurate and informative information concerning any one fruit or vegetable you may want to reference the farmer’s almanac, or any site that offers tips to commonly asked questions. You may find out some tips to growing that you didn’t previously know about. Anything that can help you increase the quality and not necessarily the size or your produce, is some good information to live by.
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