- [Announcer] Growing a Greener World is made possible in part by.

- [Announcer] The Subaru Crosstrek.

Designed with adventure in mind, built in a zero landfill plant, so you can roam the earth with a lighter footprint.

Subaru, proud sponsor of Growing a Greener World.

- [Announcer] And the following: Rain Bird, Corona Tools, and Milorganite.

- I'm Joe Lamp'l.

When I created Growing a Greener World, I had one goal: to tell stories of everyday people, innovators, entrepreneurs, forward-thinking leaders, who were all, in ways both big and small, dedicated to organic gardening and farming, lightening our footprint, conserving vital resources, protecting natural habitats, making a tangible difference for us all.

They're real.

They're passionate.

They're all around us.

They're the game changers who are literally growing a greener world, and inspiring the rest of us to do the same.

Growing a Greener World.

It's more than a movement, it's our mission.

If you've ever grown vegetables, you know that once they get in the ground, they can really take off, and before you know it, it's time to harvest, but since not all fruits and vegetables ripen in the same way, how do you know what to pick when?

Some continue to ripen after they're picked, while other start to break down once they're picked.

Sometimes you don't even know if it's too late to harvest at all.

Well, it's one thing when you're doing that for yourself, but it's another thing entirely when a top national food magazine is counting on you to deliver the best tasting and looking fruits and vegetables for their magazine photos and recipes.

Well, that's exactly the case for one young corporate type turned farmer, Mary Beth Shaddix.

She left her office job at Cooking Light Magazine five years ago to pursue her passion for growing, while enjoying life on the farm and nursery near Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, David, but it didn't take long for this business-savvy gardener to find her way back to the magazine, but this time in a completely different capacity.

Now Mary Beth uses her skill to sustainably grow and harvest fruits and vegetables at their peak, and then deliver them to the magazine within hours for picture-perfect produce that will be seen by millions of people across the country.

- Harvesting for yourself and harvesting for a magazine on a production schedule are two very different things.

I mean, trying to get that ripe tomato on a Monday morning when you know it needs to be photographed is, you know, a little bit of magic involved, but for all of us wishing to pick the perfect tomato at the peak ripeness, I think you can go with the standard indicators of looking at that seed packet for days to maturity.

You can look at the color, you can, you know, do the squeeze test, and all those things, but at the end of the day, it comes down to a little trial and error, and it's not so bad that you have to actually taste it to figure out if it's at ripe peakness.

So our approach to sustainability in this garden starts with the seeds.

We actually buy from great, reputable resources.

We buy a lot of heirloom seeds.

We want to honor and cherish the heritage of that.

That was important to this project, and really all the way from seed to plate, we just, we're really active, hands-on.

We pick off pests by hand.

We, you know, pick leaves, and prune leaves, and we actually pull tomato plants when they're not performing well.

We don't want to endanger the rest of the crop.

So it's just a really hands-on approach, but there's no Hollywood to it.

There's not a lot of spraying, and trickery, I guess you'd say, because we want people to be able to replicate this in their own home garden.

- Part of the mystery around growing edibles is knowing just when to harvest.

It would be easy if there was just one general rule, but instead, it seems like each crop seems to have its own rules for just that right time.

So harvesting zucchini, I mean, not only for a photo shoot, but for your own personal consumption, it can be kind of tricky, because it doubles in size like, overnight.

- It does, it does, and it has a reputation for that, and it's definitely a daily chore, I mean, especially if you're getting great irrigation or rain, in the summer, they can grow overnight it seems.

They've earned that reputation.

- So what are you looking for for the photo shoot here?

- So for this particular variety, it's an Astia, we wanted about five to six inches.

Some varieties get a little longer, and that's the ultimate, but if it does get a little larger, it's still edible.

You just scoop it out, stuff it, bake it.

It's absolutely ideal, just the seeds get a little too large.

- And then with the extra water, maybe it just kind of dilutes the flavor.

- Dilutes the flavor a little bit.

- Okay, so we're going to take a couple of those, I see.

- Right, so this guy here is just beyond six inches or so, but we'll take him anyway before he gets even larger, and then I think we'll take this guy here today, even though it's going to be a beautiful fruit, I think it would be beautiful in the photography studio, but also maybe as a pizza topping or something as an immature fruit with the blossom.

That's really a gourmet treat if you have your own garden.

- So too small is fine, always, right?

- Yeah.

- This, and then you also put the blossom on the pizza, is that what I'm hearing?

- Yes, we actually love to eat with the blossoms.

We stuff them with cheese.

This year, the thing you wanted to look at, this is a male blossom, so if you don't want to sacrifice smaller fruit, always harvest the guys.

There's more than girls, and we can lose some of those, and harvest them early in the morning, just as they're opening up, and make sure that you don't get any of the honey bees, or the ants that are in there with them, but that's a very great treat, wonderful delicacy if you're growing your own.

- Excellent, and this is going to make it into the photo shoot too, right?

- Absolutely.

- Okay, cool.

I love growing cucumbers, because they're such a classic of the summer garden, but one of the things we need to watch out for is how fast everything grows.

- This is true.

Well, they're predominantly water, so they grow very quickly, and they're very camouflaged, so you've got to check your fence every day.

- Right, one of the guides I like to use is to know the appropriate size for whatever variety you're growing, where like, four inches might be the right size for one variety, eight inches might be the perfect size for another.

- That's so true.

It's important to read that seed packet, or the plant label, and know, like for instance, with our homemade pickles, that four inches, the perfect size.

With a Chelsea prize, eight to 10 inches is the prize, and the thing you want to watch out for, like this one here, it's probably one day past prime, but still easy to take today, but once you see a little yellow on there, not good.

Yellow is not better, it's bitter.

- Well, that's the case.

So then if that's the case, we need to cut this one right here.

- Absolutely.

- There it is.

(upbeat music) Now, the beans are another one of those crops you have to stay on top of, because once those pods mature, it's time to pick them.

- You really have to pick them daily, especially if you want them as tender snap beans, and once you see these forming the beans in the pod, it's a little too late.

- Right, so once that color of the pod changes to either a darker color, or maybe even a tan, you either want to just save them for dried beans, or save them for next year to plant in your garden again.

- They'd be great as dried beans.

(upbeat music) - You know, walking through this garden, it's a little bit reassuring for me to look around and see a little imperfection here.

I mean- - Are you calling us not perfect?

(chuckling) - Well I mean, these are tomato plants, come on.

- Right, yeah.

- So you've got a little bit of blight and stuff going on.

But the question is, since we're talking about a major magazine shoot, and you're the one providing all the fruit, are you doing anything extraordinary to make sure everything looks as good as it can for that big day?

- Nothing extraordinary, but there is a lot of pressure involved as far as keeping it looking great for photography, and looking great for the, you know, the fruit in the magazine, but we don't do anything that a normal home gardener wouldn't do.

We want it to be approachable, normal, and know that they can do this at home as well.

I mean, it starts with healthy soil, which we have chickens to provide great chicken litter for that.

We do a lot of composting.

We prune bad leaves when we see a little bit of blight on those, or, you know, if a plant sickly, we yank the whole plant, call it a loss, then move on.

- So you sacrifice a few for the many?

- That's right.

- But the good news is, because of that, and staying proactive, you can get great results that end up like this with very little inputs.

- Absolutely.

- Very nice.

Now, when it comes to harvesting vegetables, there are a few general guidelines, and one is that it's better to harvest earlier rather than later.

- That's true.

- Yeah, tomatoes are certainly no exception to that either, and yet it's very tempting to want to pull it off a little ahead of time, not a big crime, but there's no substitute for the peak of freshness.

- It's well worth the wait, yeah.

- So we look for that bright red color, but that's not always the case.

- That's not always the best indicator, and I would encourage folks to look at the seed packet.

We're growing a variety, for instance, called Green Zebra, that's ripe when it's green.

- So if you're waiting for that to turn red, you're going to wait a very long time.

- You're going to wait a long time.

- Okay, so there are other indicators though?

- Absolutely, so once color is evident, I like to do a gentle squeeze test.

So if you just do a gentle squeeze like that, and it yields to soft pressure, it's perfect.

- And if it goes beyond that, that doesn't make it bad.

It's just past its prime.

- Right.

- But the good news is you can pick it when it's green, and it'll continue to ripen off the vine?

- Right, look for a lighter green shade.

When it turns to that, the chlorophyll has begun to form, and it will ripen off the vine.

- So we're talking maybe tomatoes through Thanksgiving?

- Yes, which is great.

- Mary Beth, your pepper plants are so prolific.

I'm sure it's very tempting to want to pick one of those big, green, bell peppers right off the plant, and yet there's something to be said for leaving it there.

- Good things come to those who wait.

It is so tempting, but the longer you leave them on the plant, the more they ripen from green to yellow, to orange, to red.

They get sweeter, and get a better flavor, and they're actually more nutritious.

- Yeah, I think the flavor is actually richer when it goes to color, but it's perfectly fine to pick them as green, and if you want more fruit, then you certainly want to pick them as green.

- Just keep picking.

(upbeat music) - Harvesting is well underway at the Cooking Light garden.

Mary Beth is harvesting tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers for this morning's photo shoot.

The studio is about an hour commute with traffic, which makes for a great opportunity to chat along the way.

So, you know, you make this drive to the studios once a week?

- Right.

- Any horror stories, any stressful moments on the way?

- I don't know about horror stories, but we certainly race the clock.

We want to get up really early at the crack of dawn, and harvest, and a race to town in time for us to have a full day of photography, which is a little pressure, and you know, what, if all else fails, we just eat it.

(upbeat music) - When we arrived at the studio, we were greeted by some of the team.

They're anxious to get the produce, and start shooting.

For most produce, it looks best right after picking, and the longer they wait to get their shots, then that perfect photo opportunity could be missed.

(upbeat music) Once we arrive in the studio, Mary Beth immediately briefs the team on what she brought them.

So what's happening right now, they've done the inspection.

They decided what they want to shoot, I think, but now they sort.

Everything looks good, but they want the best of the best, so out goes the stuff that's just okay, and the only thing that they're going to keep for the shooting is the very best of what's here.

There's a lot of equipment needed to make these vegetables look their best, from cameras, lights, and computers.

It's all about the creative team's final vision that makes it to print.

All right, so did you ever wonder when you look at those magazines, and that fruit just seems to be floating there?

Well, it kind of is, because they put it on a sheet of glass, and then they have a lights reflecting underneath, and the flashes, and all that technical stuff I'm not so sure about, but what's really cool is it immediately comes up here on this big computer screen, and they start editing right away, and within a matter of minutes, they've got their shot, they know what they need, and they move onto the next thing.

But it's a really fascinating process made up of a team of very talented people.

Randy and Caitlin are right here doing the expert part of this process right now.

It looks amazing.

(upbeat music) Along with the creative team, there were other people involved in making the most of what Mary Beth brings here, including several professional chefs.

There are four identical kitchens, where chefs prepare recipes all day long.

These test recipes are sourced from many places.

Here, they're prepared and sampled by team of discerning editors.

If the recipes ever have a chance of making it into the magazine, they have to make this important cut first.

Chef Adam Hickman gives us a lesson on the grill.

All right, I can feel the heat from here, good, hot grill, perfect for summertime and fresh ingredients.

- Absolutely, summertime and fresh vegetables, they just go together.

I mean, just a little salt and pepper, you cook it well, and you're done.

It's just that simple.

- [Joe] Not complicated, is it?

- Nope, no, the more you do to it, kind of the worse it gets.

It's just one of those things.

- Now as a chef, you certainly appreciate the freshness of the ingredients.

Talk to me about how much of a difference that makes.

- Oh, yeah, yeah, when you're coming from the farm to the kitchen in only a couple hours, I mean, how do you really beat that?

It may not be the prettiest food, but it will be like the best quality food, it really will.

It doesn't have any bruises, no blemishes.

I mean, it's just, it speaks for itself.

- Yeah.

- So we go with the eggplant plant.

It takes a little bit longer, so we'll start with that.

- Okay.

- And these squash here, these are from the garden, and these are those Eight Ball squash.

- I recognize those.

- Yep.

- And a lot of people don't really kinda know what to do with zucchini beyond the basics.

- Yeah.

- Marinade, salt, pepper, on the grill.

- Marinade, salt and pepper, that's the kind of chef that I am, just salt and pepper.

You cook it well, you just can't go wrong.

- Oh, wow.

- So all we're doing is just trying to get some grill marks on it, okay?

So just a few minutes on each side.

- [Joe] Yeah, that smells fantastic, and that's just the, a little bit of marinade and salt and pepper?

- Yeah, what this marinate is, is it's miso dressing, which is fermented soybeans, which sounds really odd, but you know, it's just one of the simple ingredients you can get it in a lot of grocery stores, just miso, hot water, and a little bit of olive oil, and just kind of brush it on there, and just let it go.

- [Joe] It smells terrific.

(upbeat music) The recipes have been cooked, and today, I get to participate in the evaluations.

So clearly one of the best perks about working here, in my opinion, and I don't work here, but just today, we're sampling all the recipes that have been made this day that they are considering putting into the magazine.

And so of course it's a table full of editors, and people deciding what recipes make the cut that then get further consideration.

So I haven't had one bite yet, but just judging from how this smells, I can't wait to get started.

Nothing like a little pressure, living in a fishbowl.

(laughing) (upbeat music) Sometimes an abundant harvest means too much produce all at once, so what do you do with all the excess?

Well, to help answer that question is our own food preserving expert, Theresa Loe, who has a simple solution to that.

- As gardeners, I think we all have those moments when the entire garden ripens all at once, and we don't have time to can it or cook with it.

Well today, I'm going to show you how to preserve all of your summer flavors, and it doesn't take a lot of time, and you don't even need any special equipment.

I'm talking about using your freezer, and what's great about the freezer is that it preserves the flavor and the nutrition.

So we're going to learn some of the tricks, and we're going to start with tomatoes.

Now, tomatoes happen to be one of the easiest things to freeze, and that's because you literally can just pop it into the freezer.

You don't have to peel it, or core it.

When it defrosts, it comes out kind of as a stewed tomato consistency.

It's a little bit soft, and at this point you can just peel off the skin, and you can core it if you need to.

And it works in stews, and soups, and chili, anything where a cooked tomato would be used, but it still has all of that summer, fresh-picked flavor.

There's a couple of different ways that you can package up your tomatoes for the freezer, and the easiest is just to use freezer bags, and press out as much air as possible.

Air is actually the enemy of anything frozen, because it kind of deteriorates the flavor and the texture.

But if you don't want to have your food next to plastic in the freezer, the best thing to use are your canning jars.

Now, they have to be modern jars.

You don't want to use anything vintage, because the glass will break, and you don't want to use like an old mayonnaise jar, or sauce jar.

It has to be a canning jar, because they're tempered glass, and they're made to withstand high temperatures and low temperatures.

Also, the newer canning jars have an actual mark on them for where you stop when you're filling it for the freezer, and this is because the food expands when it freezes, and it needs to have room so that it won't press against the top, or break the glass.

And I also recommend that you use a jar with straight sides, not the kind that come in at the top.

Because this food does expand when it freezes, if it comes in at the top, the food will push on that, and can break your jar.

Now, filling this jar for tomatoes could not be easier.

Basically, if it's a small tomato, you just put it in the jar, but if it's a larger tomato like this, you can cut it in half, or in quarters, and I just try to squish in as many as I can.

They're going to come out soft anyway, and you want to try and fill the spaces so you don't have any air.

So in this case, the jar still has a lot of air pockets.

You could actually fill it with water, but I want to pack as much flavor in here as I can, so I like to use tomato juice.

You can actually squeeze a tomato, or you can use a canned tomato juice, anything that will fill those voids.

When you're filling it with your liquid, make sure you stop at that fill line, so that it has room to expand.

And then you just put on your lid, and your ring, label this, and use it within six months.

Now, it's not that it suddenly goes bad at six months.

It's just that right at that point, you really start losing quality very rapidly, so try to use it within six months for best quality.

Now, what about berries?

Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries?

Well, berries are also very easy.

All you do is place them on a cookie sheet, and freeze them for a couple hours first, before you put them into the container.

And that's so that later, if you just want to reach in and grab a handful for a smoothie, or for your pancake batter, you don't have to defrost the entire container.

Also, berries tend to pack in really well, and you don't have to add any liquid to eliminate any air.

Berries are also wonderful for freezing, and later making your jams and jellies.

It's a really nice time-saving tip.

Well, that brings us to zucchini, and I don't think that there is a gardener alive who hasn't grown too much of this vegetable.

All vegetables are normally blanched before they're frozen, because they have an enzyme on the outside that can make them get soft and mushy, and blanching just slows down the process.

But today we're looking at ways to save time, and if you're going to be using the zucchini to make zucchini bread, or muffins, or put it into a cake to add moisture, then you don't have to blanch it, because you don't care if it gets soft and mushy.

So what I do when I'm in a hurry is I designate all the zucchini for baked products, and I'll shred it first, and then I'll measure it out in one cup increments.

So I pre-grate it, measure it in one cup increments, because that just happens to be what works for my baked goods, and when it comes out of the freezer, yeah, it's a little bit soft, but it still has all the flavor and nutrition, and it adds moisture to anything that you bake with.

Now, what if you're growing something that I haven't even shown here?

Well, on our website, growingagreenerworld.com, we have recipes, tips, and even videos, everything you need so that you can preserve your harvest long after the season is over.

- You know, one of the biggest keys to an abundant harvest is to make sure that you give your plants the best opportunity for success all along the way.

But a good place to start is right at the beginning, when you put your seeds and seedlings in the ground, because plants that are too close together as they grow up, don't often get enough light and air circulation to reach their full potential.

So my tool of choice when it comes to spacing is this planting board that I made myself, and I use it all the time.

And it's not just about the spacing that makes this tool so versatile.

It also provides an easy way to level the soil in the bed before planting.

I use the smooth side, and just move it across the soil, using the bed edges as my surface guide.

I let the excess soil fall off the sides, but you could collect it as well, and return it to another part of your garden or beds.

Next, the planting board is a convenient way to make shallow furrows in the soil.

Simply place the uncut side into the soil, and apply some pressure as you slide it back and forth.

The depth of the row is simply a result of how much pressure you apply to the soil.

Then, by virtue of the notches and markings, spacing seeds or transplants is a snap.

Simply plant your seedlings or sow your seeds at the desired spacing, cover, and you're done.

If you need to come back later, and thin out your plants, the board makes it easy to get the exact spacing you want.

Making this board is easy.

I purchased a one by four board, and decided on a six foot length, which I found works well.

You can use whatever type of wood you like.

I made marks in my board with a permanent marker every three inches.

I then made V-shaped cuts, using a circular saw and straight edge.

For quick visual reference, I made the three and nine inch cuts three quarters inch deep, the six inch marks an inch deep, and the foot marks one and a half inches deep.

This gives me a quick visual reference as I sow or plant, and that's all there is to it.

The entire job takes less than 30 minutes once you gather your tools and supplies.

For a couple of dollars, and just a few minutes, you'll have a tool that you'll use often for years to come, so do yourself a favor and make one too, and once you have it, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.

(upbeat music) What a great day at Maple Valley Farm.

Who can resist being around so many great plants without bringing a few home for the garden, right?

An abundant harvest is well within the reach of any gardener, especially when you know more about how and when to harvest.

If you like what you saw today, or would like to learn more, we have all that information and more on our website, and the address is the same as our name.

It's growingagreenerworld.com.

You'll find it under the show notes for this episode.

I'm Joe Lamp'l.

Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you back here next time for more Growing a Greener World.

- [Announcer] Growing a Greener World is made possible in part by.

- [Announcer] The Subaru Crosstrek.

Designed with adventure in mind, built in a zero landfill plant, so you can roam the earth with a lighter footprint.

Subaru, proud sponsor of Growing a Greener World.

- [Announcer] And the following: Rain Bird, Corona Tools, and Milorganite.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Continue the garden learning from Growing a Greener World.

Joe Lamp'l's online gardening academy offers classes designed to teach gardeners of all levels.

From the fundamentals to master skills, you can take each class on your own schedule from anywhere, plus opportunities to ask Joe questions about your specific garden in real time.

Courses are available online.

To enroll, go to growingagreenerworld.com/learn.

(upbeat music)