The internet is full of ideas for your garden. Some great, others not so great. It takes a good dose of discernment to figure out which ones like “tomato hacks” are best for you. Two years ago I found a pretty incredible tomato hack that helped me not dispose of my tomato plant full of green tomatoes. In this post, learn how to hang tomatoes by their roots to continue harvesting for weeks, even months, after your first fall frost.
Why not to waste those green tomatoes on the vine
Waste not, want not!
The age-old saying likely derived from our great grandparents who lived through the Great Depression and knew every resource was important. Who learned to exhaust every resource of every single thing it had to offer before disposing of it.
Perhaps our great and grand parents who learned the value of a Victory Garden during World Wars 1 and 2.
In 2023, we have resources conveniently at our fingertips. We have no clue what it was like to not be able to feed our families. Of course I speak as a first world country citizen who has, by the Grace of God, never had to experience that.
I still believe in not wasting resources, in not throwing away food, in eating leftovers, in cooking smaller batches. Because of God’s blessings today, I realize they could be gone tomorrow.
Let us choose not to be wasteful with food today.
How to keep tomatoes longer on the vine past the first fall frost:
- Start by gently pull up each tomato plant by the roots.
2. Shake out all the dirt from the roots.
3. Then find a dry, warm location to hang your tomato vines like a garage or greenhouse or outbuilding.
4. Hang tomato vines upside down with roots up top, gently as not to knock off any tomatoes.
5. Now you’ll want to allow tomato vines to dry and tomatoes to continue to ripen over the next several weeks.
6. Be sure to check every few days for blush or red tomatoes to pull. I personally choose to let blush tomatoes continue on the vine until they are fully ripened.
A note on this tomato hack
Some will tell you not to pull up plants by the roots as it disturbs the microbiome underneath the surface that is working hard to create beneficial soil nutrients.
Simply cut your plant stem just at the surface of the soil and over time, it will decompose adding more nutrients to your soil. Root systems under the soil create the perfect air pockets for water drainage, your soil, and organisms living within it. All wonderful things with is why I try to reserve root-pulling just for my tomato plants.
For this hack to work, you need the root system in place as it will continue to feed your tomatoes on the vine. It also helps if your storage area is warmer than the outside temperatures.
Tomato Hacks: the proof of this one!
In the picture’s caption above from my 2021 Instagram post, I mentioned I hung tomatoes and put them in paper bags and boxes to ripen. The bags and boxes worked but not nearly as well as this hanging hack.
Fall 2022, I decided to hang our tomatoes in my husband’s woodworking shop instead of our attached garage. The shop is much cooler than our garage is in the fall and winter. This hack still ripened tomatoes but not as fast and many tomatoes were wrinkly.
A warm location is going to be best for this hack.
Tomato Hack within Tomato Hacks
If you feel so moved to hang your tomato vines in your home like in a mud room, utility room, or spare room where it is much warmer, take care to put down plastic or a sheet to cover flooring. Though the goal is to shake out as much dirt from the roots as possible, some still lingers and falls. As do dried leaves and stem pieces as you remove ripened tomatoes.
What other things can you do with green tomatoes?
As the first frost date looms and likely the horn worms are trying to to eat away at your tomato vines, you may be tempted to clear your garden beds to prepare a late fall or winter garden. Perhaps you want to prepare it to fallow by covering the soil with a heavy layer of mulch or planting a cover crop.
But there are still lots of green tomatoes still on the vine and if you’re like me, you don’t like being wasteful.
Some other tomato hacks you can use with those green tomatoes are:
- Pick, rinse, slice, batter, fry, and serve with ranch dressing
- Pick, rinse, dice, and make into a salsa verde or green tomatoes salsa
- Pick and feed to your livestock like chickens and pigs
How can I preserve my late fall tomatoes to use in winter?
This one is my favorite! There are lots of different ways that do not include a pressure canner. Again, I try to use every single bit of the tomato as not to be wasteful and get the most out of the garden crop I raised up from seed to table. Here are a few more tomato hacks I used each year:
More Tomato Hacks
Freeze Tomatoes is probably the easiest tomato preservation method there is!
Time Saving Way to Peel Tomatoes Skins, low on time? Try this peeling method that’ll save you many minutes as you preserve tomatoes, even if you’re choosing to pressure can them!
Turning Tomato Skins into Tomato Powder Seasoning, great for your fall soups.
3 Ways to Preserve Tomatoes, a post with 3 great tomato hacks inside.
Pin this tomato hack for next summer!
Okay, I get it. It’s already October 2023 as of the writing of this post. You’ve probably already cleared your garden beds of any tomatoes. You have none left to hang. Go ahead now and save this tomato hack on your Pinterest board labeled “VIP Tomato Things” for summer 2024.
Now get signed up for my (most) weekly newsletter and I’ll be sure to seasonally remind you next year!
You can also find me sharing tips, tricks, and hacks on Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube under the same name: @johnsonhomenc
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