To enjoy the full flavor of vegetables grown in your garden, don’t allow them to linger too long on the vine. In just a few days, zucchini go from tender and tasty to tough and bland. Harvest daily to savor cukes, beans and squash while they are still young. Pick corn when the silk turns brown and juice in the kernels is milky and sweet. Ripe melons literally fall off the vine. Eggplant should be shiny and purple-black. Pinch flowers off basil and other herbs to keep them at their culinary best. Visit the UC Davis’ Vegetable Research Information Center (vric.ucdavis.edu ) , for details on planting and harvesting more than two dozen edibles.