Late Season Tomatoes: How to Ripen, Use & Preserve Them
We always tend to have a lot of late-season tomatoes, usually ones that I winter sowed or that were volunteer plants.
I usually try to harvest them when the first bit of color starts to show, and leave them to ripen on a sunny windowsill… This keeps keeps the pests away, prevents them from splitting and saves me from the issue of them falling to the ground and becoming next year’s volunteer plants.
Volunteer/weed tomatoes are always an issue for me… So make sure to pick up those fallen tomatoes before they get a chance to drop and rot on the ground. And whatever you do- DON’T put them in your compost!
Using ALL the tomatoes…
This time of year, we have a lot of tomato salads with a little basil and balsamic glaze.
But the rest, the ones we can’t eat before they start to go bad, I usually cut in half, squeeze out the seeds, throw them into a Ziploc bag, and stick them in the freezer.
If I’m feeling a bit more adventurous, I make a simple sauce with the ripe tomatoes, regardless of whether they are sauce tomatoes or ones that would be better on a sandwich.
Tomatoes are tomatoes.
I usually cut an X in the bottom of the tomatoes and dunk them into boiling water until the skin starts to separate. Once they are cool enough to handle, I remove the skins, cut out the cores, squeeze out the seeds, and throw them into the food processor.
Then I melt a few tablespoons of butter in a pan, add some sliced garlic, and then add the tomatoes. I throw in a sprig of basil and a little salt or sugar, depending on how the tomatoes taste. I let it simmer for a bit until it cooks down and some of the water has evaporated.
I don’t can my sauce. I usually use it right away, or stick it in the freezer for later.
That’s it. Nothing fancy.
Okay, that’s all for now.
~Rachel
Written by Rachel Wilson
Rachel is a flower farmer and seasonal living writer on the New England Shoreline. She writes about gardening, gathering around the table, and finding a little more magic in everyday life.
