Opinions Please - Tomatoes will ripen while I'm gone

**sfg4uKim** 4/6/2011, 1:43 pm

HELP!

I'm going to visit my husband overseas for 3 weeks. Of course it will probably coincide with the time my San Marzano tomatoes are ready to harvest.

My 28 YO son will be staying at the house to take care of the dogs (and hopefully water). BUT I doubt he'll want to roast tomatoes & make sauce. Very Happy

SOOOOOO can I have him wash & freeze them and then can I thaw them and make sauce when I return?

If not, what should I do?

Thanks,
Kim

The Cat's Other Mother 4/6/2011, 2:00 pm

I can't think of why not. I froze a lot of my tomatoes last year and they worked great later for sauce, stews and soups. I peeled mine and chopped them a bit first, but I googled 'freeze tomatoes whole' and evidently it is done. Looks like some sites do want you to remove the skin and stem scar first, and I'm guessing it would be a pain to do that to a frozen tomato, but it seems possible if you don't think he's up to that.

bev 4/6/2011, 3:29 pm

I do remove the skins before freezing them but I know someone who just washes and freezes them intact. She says she just runs hot tap water over them (still frozen) and the skins slip right off. The reasons I skin them first is to get rid of all the mess and also I can just open the bag and put them frozen into things.

BackyardBirdGardner 4/6/2011, 4:23 pm

Do paste tomatoes work like any other? Can you just pick them a bit early when they first show yellow and put them in a paper bag or dark place to let them ripen on their own? That method seemed to work for other tomatoes like Early Girl and Big Boy last year for me when the season expired.

Any chance you can leave nothing to chance?

westie42 5/6/2011, 4:00 am

Email Rachel Ray that is her most prized variety of tomato. San Marzano is a fairly tender one. If he could wash and freeze them you probably would be close to fine.

Denese 5/6/2011, 4:48 am

I've washed and frozen Romas in the past without peeling. When I was ready, I just thawed them, and the skins came right off. I then removed the stem end and prepared as usual. Works great when they all ripen at the same time like Romas and you can't get to the sauce making and/or canning immediately. Very Happy

Happy Gardening!
Denese flower

**sfg4uKim** 5/6/2011, 6:53 am

Thanks everyone!

stripesmom 6/6/2011, 4:33 am

Just wanted to let you know, I did it and it was fine. I froze (can't remember which kind) whole tomatoes with only a quick wash and dry. Popped them in bags and took out as needed. They clatter together like pool balls, lol. As they thaw, the skins slip right off. Not good for much else besides making sauce or using in cooked items, but taste great.

**sfg4uKim** 6/6/2011, 7:42 am

That's OK because San Marzanos are specifically sauce tomatoes. I may convince him to "fire roast" a few of them (or maybe all of them if I'm lucky).

I put drip hoses in the veggie bed (2'x23') as well as my flower bed in the front yard (not SFG) plus added mulch in the front to make it as easy as possible for him. Gonna harvest the rest of the lettuce, the snow peas, and 2 ripe cabbages before I leave.

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Opinions Please - Tomatoes will ripen while I'm gone

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