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Storing tomatoes the right way is so important. Once you have given all that work and time to growing your tomatoes, caring for them, watering them, protecting them from pests and diseases, it would be a pity to lose some because you have not stored them properly. Here are five general guidelines that will help you get the most from your juicy tomato harvest for as long as possible. Tip One: Decide how long you need them for You should store your tomatoes under different conditions depending on how long you need them for. If you want them to fully ripen for consumption right away, you should store them in a warmer place, but always avoid direct sunlight. If you want your tomatoes to last longer, store them in a cooler area or in the fridge. Tip Two: How to double the ripening speed A trick to really speed up the ripening process is to store them in a paper bag along with a few bananas or apples. This will double how quickly they ripen. Tip Three: Space your tomatoes out To generally make sure that your tomatoes last longer, always store them so their skins are not touching. If tomatoes are touching it encourages fungi to appear and spread throughout the fruits very quickly. This tip could give your batch another day or two of edibility. Tip Four: Storing for winter If you want to save your tomatoes for the winter months, you have to can or freeze them. The best way to do this is they will never be quite as tasty this way as when they are eaten fresh. But if you store them to right way they could still be delicious come the winter. You will need some large sterilized jars. Remove the tomato skins by boiling them in water. When the skin splits immediately remove them and place them in cold water. This separates the skin from the pulp nicely. You can now peel and core them, make sure you remove all the seeds. And then squash as many tomatoes as you can into the jar, pushing them right down. In the end add a teaspoon of salt and a little boiling water. It's important that the jars have no air bubbles inside them and are sealed completely airtight. You can do this by using a two-piece ring to make it airtight. And then test it by placing them in boiling water for 30 minutes. When you remove them if the lid has a very slight indentation in it then the jar is airtight and you can freeze it for winter. If there is no indentation I'm afraid the process failed and you'll have to repeat it.
Tip Five: Storing unripe tomatoes If you are forced to pick your harvest early, storing tomatoes which are unripe is slightly different. You have to check them all very carefully and get rid of any that have specks on the skin, holes or dark cracks. Leave them in a cool place in a single layer for longer than you would normally store tomatoes - over a week even. And you should find that several of them ripen nicely so all is not lost.
Get your Free 10-Part Mini-Course on growing tomatoes at Tomato Plant Tips, plus lots more information, tips and resources on growing tomato plants. You can read another article on Storing Tomatoes right here: Storing Tomatoes.
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