Onions are ready when their tops flop over and turn brown.

“The best way to determine if your vegetables are truly ready to harvest is by looking at them and, most importantly, tasting them,” says Nastya Vasylchyshyna, resident botany expert at Plantum.

How to tell when your garden veggies are ripe for harvesting It’s about time to begin harvesting garden-grown vegetables.

For optimal tenderness, pick individual fruits when they’re 6-8 inches (15-20 centimeters) long. All varieties of green beans should be harvested when they are about as thick as a pencil.