Post Harvest to CSA Basket

Frost damage on tomatoes

After coming back from Thanksgiving break, we saw that many of our crops took a heavy beating from the frost. Our tomatoes and beans had frozen leaves, but we were able to salvage much of the fruits. On the other hand, our carrots and greens seemed to be thriving in the cooler weather.

Three cultivars of carrots,
some have split tips or
stubby growth

 As the semester draws to a close, we began harvesting. We chose to pull up the carrots with tops showing or that were beginning to crack the soil around them. Though they were the expected diameter, some of our carrots show short and stubby growth. This issue may be due to the heat early in the growing season, or perhaps the soil become compact and restricting vertical growth.
 Some of our tomatoes, though mature, were not quite ripe. To ripen them for eating and our CSA basket, I placed them in a paper sack with a banana peel. The ethylene gas released by the peel helped to soften them up and give them a nice red color, much as it would in commercial scale post harvest handling of tomatoes.
Removing field heat like we learned about in class proved a bit more difficult. I placed our Asian greens and carrots in my fridge but that caused them to wilt. I had to re-hydrate them by placing them upright in a bowl of ice water. I do not know if this will effect their texture or flavor quality, but I need to learn more about post harvest handling before I go into growing for consumers other than myself.
Though I don't think our group expected just how much work would go into growing these crops, I think we all learned a lot and we are very proud of the end result.