Storing Tomatoes for Winter Use
Did you know that before the winter frost sets in you can pick and store green tomatoes inside and they will gradually ripen? You can eat homegrown tomatoes until late fall or early winter — that means fresh salsa, BLTs, Caprese skewers, and flavorful garden tomatoes in salads.
Dad and I plant a big garden and we always have lots of green and partially ripened tomatoes still on the vine when the frost hits. So just before Dad heads to Yuma for the winter we harvest all the mature tomatoes. We pick mature tomatoes of all colors — yellow, orange, red, and green. Leaving the stem intact will help prevent the tomatoes from going bad. Immature tomatoes will not grow so just pick mature tomatoes.
Wash and sort the tomatoes into red – ready to use, yellow/orange – starting to ripen, and green – gotta ways to go. Sorted tomatoes will make checking the tomatoes much easier and prevent spoilage.
Place tomatoes on egg cartons by tomato color/ripeness. Ask a breakfast restaurant if you can have their egg cartons and boxes.
Egg cartons and boxes are perfect for storing because they take up so little space and protect each tomato.
Place cartons of tomatoes in the egg boxes with the greenest tomatoes in the bottom of the box.
Store in a cool, dry climate (a dry basement is perfect) where tomatoes are less likely to spoil. Check on the tomatoes at least once a week, removing ripe tomatoes.
No egg cartons? Or your tomatoes are too big? You can also use short, flat boxes (copier box lids work well) covered with paper grocery bags or newspapers. Arrange tomatoes in double layers with green tomatoes on the bottom. Place a paper bag between layers or wrap each tomato in newspaper. You can alternate the direction of the boxes for stacking.
Even with this method I often end up with too many ripe tomatoes for eating. So as they ripen I wash, core and freeze them in gallon bags to use later in soups and sauces. Freezing the tomatoes as they ripen allows me to make salsa and sauces at a convenient time.
