The summer growing season is nearly in full production, including home gardens. Whether you planted the entire backyard or have a few tomato plants in containers, it’s important to consider the safety of food when you garden.

To help home gardeners weave food safety into gardening practices, UNH Cooperative Extension has been participating, along with Cooperative Extensions in three other New England states, in a grant-funded project led by the University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension. Home gardeners were surveyed and interviewed to determine food safety knowledge.

Using the results as a guide, the Garden to Table program was developed to help home gardeners keep food safe, the Garden to Table program focuses on five simple steps to help you reduce the risk of foodborne illness when you grow fruits and vegetables in your home garden. These steps are listed below.

Step 1 - Prepare the Garden for Planting

• Locate your vegetable garden away from manure piles, well caps, garbage cans, septic systems and areas where wildlife, farm animals or the family pet roam.
• Use compost safely. To be safe for gardening, your compost must reach a temperature of at least 130 degrees F. Check the temperature with a compost thermometer. Don’t use animal waste, including pet waste, meat scraps or dairy product waste in your compost bin.

Step 2 - Maintain the Garden

• Be familiar with the quality and safety of the water source you use in your garden. If you get your water from a municipal or public water system, you can be sure it’s safe and drinkable. If you use well water, be sure to test your water at least once a year to make sure it meets the Environmental Protection Agency standards.
• During the gardening season, keep cats, dogs and other pets out of the garden.
• Curtail nesting and hiding places for rats and mice by minimizing vegetation at the edges of your garden.
• Don’t feed wild animals, even birds, near your garden.

Step 3 - Harvest Garden Produce

• Use clean, food-grade containers. Food-grade containers are made from materials designed specifically to safely hold food. Garbage bags, trash cans and any containers that originally held chemicals such as household cleaners or pesticides aren’t food-grade.
• Use clean gloves (that have not been used to stir compost or pull weeds) or clean hands when picking produce.
• Brush, shake or rub off any excess garden soil or debris before bringing produce into the kitchen.

Step 4 - Storing Garden Produce

• If you choose to wash fruits and vegetables before storing, be sure to dry them thoroughly with a clean paper towel. Be sure to wash berries immediately before eating or cooking.
• If you choose to store without washing, shake, rub or brush off any garden soil with a paper towel or soft brush while still outside. Store unwashed produce in plastic bags or containers.
• Keep fruit and vegetable bins in your refrigerator clean.
• When washing produce fresh from the garden, the rinse water should not be more than 10 degrees colder than the produce. If you are washing refrigerated produce, use cold water.
• Fruits and vegetables needing refrigeration can be stored at 40 degrees F. or less.
• Fruits and vegetables stored at room temperature (onions, potatoes) should be in a cool, dry, pest-free, well-ventilated area separate from household chemicals.

Step 5 - Preparing and Serving Fresh Garden Produce

Delicious garden produce is often eaten raw so it’s important to prepare raw fruits and vegetables with food safety in mind.

• Always wash your hands before handling raw fruits and vegetables.
• Rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under cool, running, clean water even if you don’t eat the skin or rind.
• Never use soap, detergent, or bleach solution to wash fruits and vegetables. These products can affect flavor and may not be safe to ingest.
• Avoid cross-contamination when preparing fruits and vegetables. Clean work surfaces, utensils, and hands before and after handling fruits and vegetables.
• If you have leftover produce that has been cut, sliced, or cooked, store it in a clean, air-tight container in the refrigerator at 40 degrees F. or less.

If you want to preserve your garden produce to enjoy throughout the year, be sure to go to the National Center for Home Food Preservation web site for tested techniques and recipes. Contact UNH Cooperative Extension’s Family, Home, and Garden Education Center Info Line at 1-877-398-4769 from 9 am to 2 pm Monday through Friday for answers to your food safety and food preservation questions or for more information about the Garden to Table program.