There are bags made of some sort of plastic woven material, very strong, called tilt bags. They have a hoop in the top to keep them open and allow them to stay upright when you set them on the ground. They come in three sizes. They are meant for collecting fallen leaves and yard debris. One tilts the contents of a full bag into a compost bin. I find my bag to be handy for other uses.

I think the weight of carrying a large canvas sack slung around one's neck, like cottonpickers use, would be awfully heavy and uncomfortable, if the sack had squash and melons in it. I was wearing a long dress the other day, when I checked to see what was ready for picking in the produce garden. I gathered the edges of the skirt in one hand and filled the skirt of my dress with produce.

Lorna

4 or 5 gallon buckets are very effective. I get them for free from a Krispy Kreme donut shop. They were throwing away about 5 buckets a day. I have a use for them.

DarJones

lorna-organic

I Googled tilt bags but couldn't find anything very useful. And yes, the image I had was one that hand-cottonpickers use. You are certainly right that you'd have to watch the weight.

fusion power

I have a bunch of 5 gallon buckets with holes in the bottom that I use for growing some things in and hadn't thought of using those. They'll certainly do with the hole covered until I find something that I can wear to carry lightweight stuff. Lorna's long skirt makes me think of a deep apron for handsfree harvesting, which I suppose I'd need to make if I can borrow my DIL's sewing machine for a bit!

Anney, you hit my nail on the head. I use a wheel barrel with 2-3 low cut cardborad boxes inside. My vine ripened tomatoes are too delicate to stack so they are arranged 1 deep in the boxes. Single boxes are also good for most other crops like snaps, cukes, & squash though I use doubled up grocery bags for collecting corn in bulk. Wheel barrel also comes in handy for collecting the melons. Luckily I have plenty access to boxes at work...at least for a few more months anyways.

I use peach baskets (rectangular half bushel basket with a handle in the middle). They can carry alot of weight, enough tomatoes for one run of canning, only require one hand to carry and they are inexpensive.

I ran across a whole bunch (probably 20) 8 quart plastic wastebaskets, sort of cone shaped (wider at top than bottom) with two cutouts for handles, on clearance at Lowe's last year for $1.25 each. They make the best picking containers, which was what I thought of immediately when I saw them. They are a sort of semi-rigid plastic, but resilliant enough that they don't seem to break if dropped, etc. I keep them out in my garden shed so they are handy for harvesting. And, I have a couple of large garden carts for wheeling the harvest up to the house.

The nicest thing about the wastebaskets is that they are 8 dry quarts, which is a peck, or 1/4 of a bushel, so I can keep track of how much I harvest this way.

I use a cotton market tote, similar to the one in the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: market bag

Anney, I am sorry. I used the wrong name for the bags. They are tip bags. Here is a link to the one I have.

Lorna

Here is a link that might be useful: medium tip bag at Gardener's Supply

Hi Anney,

Could you just get a second wicker basket? I have 5 of them and usually take 2 to the garden. This way, I can distribute the load between them and reduce the strain on my back. I like them because I can pick the beans and just let them drop into the basket on the ground. They're heavy duty enough to haul 20 lbs of potatoes with them.

{{gwi:89733}}

Bill

All kinds of assorted cardboard boxes and child labor.

I currently use a wicker one with broad strips, but I'm afraid to get it wet and times I harvest after a rain, which is why I'm contemplating getting a wire veggie harvest basket from PTF's Peddler's Wagon site. A gardening buddy of mine's got one and boy are they handy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wire Basket link on Peddler's Wagon

I use one of those plastic grocery shopping baskets people use when they only want to buy just a few things. I found it at a yard sale several years ago.

Sinfonian, wicker actually benefits from moisture. It is a good idea to mist wicker with water every once in awhile so that it will remain supple. I have hosed baskets to clean them, then I leave them outdoors to dry in the shade. I have a collection of baskets, large and small, some of which are 30+ years old and still in good shape.

Lorna

For my 60 sq. ft. veggie patch ... a colander : )

Bonnie

I have a bag similar to what you describe. I love it because it keeps your hands free. They have one similar to mine at Peaceful Valley Farms. Their website is GrowOrganic.com. It's called a Professional Picking Bag. Sounds like what you're looking for. Happy picking!

Every time I go to the wholesale club or the supermarket I grab whatever large sturdy tray type boxes I can find and bring those home. They are very useful for gathering the tomatoes and for giving away loads of veggies to others. And they are free.

gardengirl

Perfect! Thank you very much for the tip. I found it online and have it bookmarked now to purchase later.

Everybody else...it's fascinating to see what people use to cart their veggies away from the garden to be consumed! Lots of good ideas.

I found some good sized plastic bowls at target for $1 and they work fine, good for tomatoes (although I cant get them all in, but they still hold a good bit.

When I forget the bowl and want to pick stuff, I grab a 3 gallon plastic plant container and that works great too.

I also use the 5 gallon buckets mentioned. that works the best for a large load of tom's.

My wheelbarrow, ice cream buckets (5 quart size), and 5-gallon buckets, depending upon what I'm needing to harvest and how much volume there will be. For the corn I park the wheelbarrow at the end of the row, and take the 5-gallon buckets with me to pick into. Then I dump them into the wheelbarrow at the end of the rows.

I also use child labor, and one of my girls likes to fill the tail of her oversized t-shirts with whatever we are picking (like the poster above using her dress). I have also resorted to doing this if I didn't go out with the intent of harvesting but notice that something needs to be picked. I don't really like to do that, though, because a dirty spot at the bottom of my shirt tends to emphasize an already-too-large belly. =grin=

I like using a flexible plastic tub trug - can hose off the produce in it if needed, and its flexibility makes it easier to carry than a similarly shaped rigid container. Easy to clean too. They come in different colors and capacity sizes...same sized ones can nest, and of course smaller sizes can go into larger ones.

I also use them for mixing up various batches of potting soil, compost or whatnot... and also to soak a plant in before potting or planting, or moving around plant divisions (or ahem... keeping them in there "indefinitely" til they are re-planted... can just toss in extra soil or water to hold if needed).

Lee Valley calls them "Garden Tubs". They also have an over-the-shoulder hose-able harvest bag (perhaps a handy person could make a wider padded sleeve for the shoulder strap if the original digs in too much with a heavy harvest), a "Garden Hod" harvest wire basket and a collapsable canvas bucket.

These aren't super inexpensive, but Lee Valley products are usually of good quality and their return policy reflects very good service. I did buy a plastic flexible trug/tub looking like the Lee Valley ones at a supermarket chain for less than or ~$5 (made in China I think), but the handle broke with lifting "heavy" soil (not even the larger sized tub!); I've had no problems with the higher quality ones lugged here and there for the past few years.

Vesey's also carry some colorful versions which I've not tried: http://www.veseys.com/ca/en/store/tools/preservingthe/tubtrugs

Good luck with your harvesting, whatever you choose to use!

Here is a link that might be useful: trugs n' such from Lee Valley

bluebloom

That Harvest Bag also looks to be the thing, nice because it's mesh and you can wash your veggies through it! And it has a shoulder or waist strap, something I really wanted for two-handed picking.