A heavy summer harvest of ripening tomatoes, peppers, squashes, and eggplants can be easily made into a base for soup, sauce, and juice and stored for winter use. Each week during the summer and fall set aside 40 minutes to quickly prepare, cook, and freeze the vegetables that you can’t eat fresh or add to
Freeze tomatoes whole or cut. Freeze the bounty of tomatoes you don’t eat fresh this summer for use in cooking next winter. Freeze tomatoes whole or cut into wedges. Wash and dry tomatoes for freezing and cut out any bad spots or bruises. Place whole or sliced tomatoes on a baking sheet and put the
Sun-dried tomatoes with olive oil Sun-dry tomatoes or oven-dry tomatoes to use for seasoning in salads, soups, stews, casseroles, mixed vegetables, and snacks. You can also rehydrate dried tomatoes for use in cooking. Choose firm, ripe, full-flavored tomatoes that are heavy for their size. Tomatoes with a high acid content dry best. Excellent tomato varieties
Summer squash blossom You can prepare, sauté or deep fry, and serve squash blossoms in 10 minutes or less. Squash blossoms—yellow-orange and delightfully bright–are a summer delicacy; they must be picked, cooked, and served on the same day. If you have more zucchini or other summer squash than you can eat, store, or give away
To quicken the ripening of tomatoes on the vine, remove all new flower clusters from tomato plants about a month before the first frost. To quicken the ripening of tomatoes on the vine at the end of the season, remove all new flower clusters from tomato plants about a month before the first frost. This
To make the most nutritious tomato juice the easy way, do this: wash your tomatoes, cut out the cores and bruised or bad spots, and place the whole tomatoes in a blender—no peeling required. Blend until smooth and drink. Freeze what you don’t drink now for later use. Most recipes for tomato juice ask you
Sweet corn and tomato relish Fresh corn, herb, and tomato relish is a mix that comes together naturally as the summer harvest peaks. When sweet corn kernels can be cut from the ears and popped in your mouth as a garden snack—well, that is the same time you are going to find meaty tomatoes ripe
The secret to making delicious homemade grape juice is to never boil the grapes. Grape juice reduces bad cholesterol, helps maintain healthy blood pressure, prevents damage to blood vessels in your heart, and reduces the risk of blood clots. Do you see a down side to drinking fresh-made grape juice? Concord grapes are great for
Plant garlic in late summer or fall and allow it to overwinter for a harvest of large bulbs next summer. Best Times to Plant Garlic • Plant garlic in late summer or fall and allow it to overwinter for a harvest of large bulbs next summer. Plant garlic in the spring and harvest it in
Tomato hornworm – head is opposite the horn Tomato hornworms eat large, ragged holes in tomato leaves, easily consuming whole leaves. Hornworms also eat stems and green fruit, and if they arrive early enough in the season seedlings and young plants. Tomato hornworms feed not only on tomatoes but also peppers, eggplants, and potatoes—any member
