Home Grown: Crops harvested by hand and packaged right on the field

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - In today's Home Grown, the tedious work of growing a natural product out of the ground really requires all hands on deck.

This time of year, in Yuma County's peak agriculture season, almost all crops are harvested by hand.

The only crops utilizing machines for harvesting are spinach and spring mixes. 

To make things even more efficient, some of the harvested crops are immediately packaged right on the fields, according to John Boelts, president of Dessert Premium Farms.

"The products that are hand harvested like romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce and leaf lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower, all that sort of stuff, are all harvested by hand, and they're either packaged in the field if they're going to be sold in cartons, or if they're going for further value added or processing, they're going to go into a large bin and be processed at another location."

That's why it's always important to wash your veggies. 

Sometimes they make it to your kitchen straight from the ground.