July Vegetable Garden Harvest: Local Food at Its Best! (2019)

🌱 July Vegetable Garden Harvest: Local Food at Its Best! 🍅🥔🧄

Zone 5 Garden – Late July

This is our favorite time of year in the garden — when the harvest is so abundant that grocery trips are barely needed. Here’s a look at what’s coming out of the garden in late July and why this season is such a win for local food and self-reliance.

🫐 Berries First

First blueberry harvest of the season
Sweet, plump berries from multiple varieties
First-ever gooseberry harvest after two years of growth

🧄 Garlic Harvest

Music hardneck garlic (a favorite for flavor and storage)
Harvested once lower leaves died back
Largest bulbs saved for planting next year’s crop

🥔 Potatoes

Red Norland potatoes fully harvested
Pulled by hand first, then finished with a garden fork
Stored for long-term use once plants fully died back

🍆 Surprise Heatwave Boost

First eggplants ready earlier than expected
Peppers ripening fast after storms and heat
Zucchini taking off with its first harvest

🍅 Tomatoes

First ripe tomatoes of the season
Slow start due to weather, but lots more coming
Plants spread throughout the garden for staggered harvests

🥕 Carrots

Harvested as needed, year-round
Left in the ground for easy, natural storage

🧺 Today’s Harvest Plan

Garlic hung to cure indoors
Potatoes stored in the basement
Everything else headed straight to meals over the next few days

Despite a slow start from rough weather, summer has finally arrived and the garden is responding in a big way. This is what local food really looks like — fresh, seasonal, and right outside the door.

🌿 What’s coming out of your garden right now?