What to do When You have too Many HomeGrown Tomatoes
Having a bounty of homegrown tomatoes is a blessing and so exciting as a beginning or avid gardener. But sometimes you can have too many homegrown tomatoes for your own good. What??
You worked hard to grow these beautiful ripe tomatoes, so what do you do now?
The end of summer preservation season can be so busy and if you have a lot of tomatoes coming off the vines, it can get a little overwhelming. By the end of September, I have usually already made at least a double or triple batch of my zucchini salsa and dozens and dozens of jars of marinara. I am usually so tired, but the tomatoes can keep on coming.
So, what do you do when you are tempted to throw them to the chickens or gasp, the compost bin?
You want to preserve them, but just don’t have it left in you at the end of the season.
Reasons you Need to Get those Tomatoes Preserved
- Your kitchen counters, table, and floor is covered with tomatoes and you still have more to harvest.
- Fruit flies are invading your kitchen, going after those little-too-ripe tomatoes.
- You spent the time to grow them and hate food waste.
But, you don’t have any more time to get those tomatoes into jars right now.
What You Can Do if You Don’t Have Time to Can All Your Tomatoes Right Now…
FREEZE THEM!
That’s right. You can take your tomatoes and put them into the freezer. You can then pull them out later to preserve in a variety of ways in jars to put on the shelves.
I’ve done this at two different times.
- I only have a few ripe tomatoes trickling in, not enough to preserve a batch in jars. But too many to eat fresh.
- My counters are overflowing and I need a break with canning
How to Freeze Tomatoes
It’s very easy.
- Wash off your tomatoes. Take off the stem and cut out the core if it is a larger tomato.
- You can make an X on the bottom with a knife (so skins slip off easily later on) or skip this part.
- Throw the tomatoes into a gallon size zip top bag. (you can weigh it and write down the weight on the bag if you have a specific recipe in mind)
- Zip it up and throw it in the freezer.
You do not have to wait for your tomatoes to dry off before tossing into the freezer bags. They will not stick together if they are damp when you put the tomatoes in the bag.
How to Use your Frozen Tomatoes
When you have more time and feel more sane after a summer of preserving, or when summer rolls around again and you find your freezer full of tomatoes…
- Pull out the bag of frozen tomatoes and let them thaw in the sink (this takes longer than you would think – maybe start the night before)
- Once they are defrosted, the skins will slip right off. This is so handy since blanching and peeling skins can take quite a bit of time when canning tomatoes without freezing.
- Then you are able to use your tomatoes as you would in your normal canning recipes.
The tomatoes will be very watery and you will probably be surprised how small they are after the water drains off. But I see it as a step ahead when making a sauce recipe because you would usually have to simmer out all that water.
So next time you find yourself with an abundance of tomatoes, try this trick to freeze them for later.
Don’t forget to pin this for later!
