What to do With all those Tomatoes

Now that you’ve learned to grow a great tomato, you’ve discovered that they’re coming out your ears. Normally, you’d have enough for regular consumption whether you slice a couple for BLTs or marinate them as a side dish.

Now that you have way more than you anticipated, you wonder what to do with them all. One of the things you can do is can them. There are places online to learn how to do that. If you don’t have time for that, you should consider freezing them. It’s fairly simple to do. First, you need a pot of boiling water and some tongs. Cut off the tops and dip the tomato in the water for about ten seconds. This scalds the skin and makes it easy to peel. Once you’ve peeled the tomato, you can chop it into pieces or put it in a food processor, and then put them in freezer bags.

You can take this freezing a method a step farther and make spaghetti sauce before putting it in freezer bags. These will be wonderful things to have on hand in the winter.

You could consider sharing your extra tomatoes with your neighbors, or get your kids to set up a little stand in your yard and have them sell them. It will be a great way for them to make some extra money during the summer.

If you want to eat them fresh, but you’re tired of eating them the same way, you could marinate them, put them in salads, put them in sandwiches, make salsa, soup, or your own ketchup. Obviously, this list is not inclusive, but you get the idea. Tomatoes are one of the most versatile vegetables in your garden. Experiment with different uses and have fun!