Managing a Busy Season
Top tips during harvest time!
Nature’s Bounty!
Spring time brings renewal, growth, and new life all around! Whether you’re a big-time farmer or small homesteader like us, it is one of the busiest times of the year.
Harvesting your crops, no matter the size, can be demanding, takes careful planning, and efficient resource management believe it or not! Here are some helpful tips we use to make sure we have a productive and successful harvest season so we can enjoy our hard work for well into the year.
Plan, Plan, and Plan some More
Create a Calendar: One of the first things we did this year before ever planting was to create a calendar to track when we were going to plant seedlings, get the garden prepped, and then get things into the ground to make sure we would be able to harvest during peak season for our zone. There are tons of amazing FREE resources out there to help you do this. To create our own calendar, we used Google Suite’s Project Management Tracker. We do this for a living so it was easy but simple pen, paper, and foundational knowledge will do the trick just fine!
Order & Prep Your Supplies: Beyond making sure you have the actual garden supplies, make sure you have the equipment needed to prep and preserve your harvest when the time is right. This may be different depending on needs. For us, it was stocking up on natural pesticides, mason jars, and lids. I will admit, we were not prepared for how much we were going to be collecting so we’ve had to steadily order more jars as the season progresses. Great problem to have!
Create a Canning System: When it has come time for harvesting, we have a very clear system as well to be as efficient as possible. For example, we take 2 days to can our pickles. Day 1 includes pulling from the garden, washing them, getting them cut to size, and then placing them in a water and lime bath overnight. Day 2, we clean and sterilize jars and get the pickles all packed up and canned. I also never can more than 1 of the same thing on the same day. This is too overwhelming for me! So if I do tomatoes one day, the next I’ll manage my cucumbers. This will look very different depending on your personality and what you’ve actually planted. I apply this same system to when I’m actually pulling veggies off the vine. I don’t want to waste anything so I rotate daily what I’m going to grab from the garden. Find a system that works for you!
2. Check your Equipment
Before planting, make sure your outdoor equipment is in good shape and service as needed. For us, we learned the hard way this year and our tiller went belly up on us mid-way through garden prep. We managed to make it work but it was definitely not as efficient as it could have been. This applies to your canning equipment as well. Order any missing pieces like weights that may be needed as you begin to harvest and preserve your food.
Most common equipment used during harvest season includes:
Tiller
Weed Eater
Wheel barrow (helpful for hauling compost and fertilizer throughout the season)
Pruning shears
Pressure Canner
Vacuum Sealer
Water Bath/Stock Pot
Mason Jars and brand new lids (bands are fine to re-use but never re-use old lids)ever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
3. Manage Your Resources Effectively!
I know this sounds very formal but it kind of has to be when you’re trying to prepare for long-term here. For us, it is as simple as delegating a clear responsibility to each person in the house to help. We don’t have a large scale operation here, however, we do harvest hundreds of pounds of food from the garden alone. That is a JOB. Our boys are wonderful helpers, despite the moaning and groaning that sometimes occurs. At the end of the day, we’ve all found we enjoyed doing things that benefits our whole family so everyone does something. My youngest helps prune plants (and he’s learning in the process! Just don’t tell him that). My oldest helps dice and prep things for pickles and sauces. My youngest and husband help with clean up. When everyone has a clear task, it makes the larger process so much easier.
4. Reflect & Improve
I’m a big advocate for continuous improvement and learning, and reflection is key to that. Our season isn’t done yet and we’re already brainstorming ways to be more efficient for next years and better prepared as continue to expand our garden. (My husband has already requested less zucchini - far less zucchini!)
We’ve been tracking (in yet another spreadsheet) what we’re bringing in, the day, how much, and how many cans we’re preserving. We want to be able to forecast more appropriately over the next year what we need and I’m excited to see how far this season gets us into the year!
Managing a busy harvest season requires careful planning and a proactive approach. I hope some of these tips give you a new perspective in how to approach your own harvest season so you can be successful and have a prosperous year ahead. Happy harvesting!
