Tomatoes, zucchini and what to do with the end-of-summer windfall
There comes a moment every September when the garden stops being charming and starts making demands.
The zucchini you swear was perfectly reasonable three days ago is suddenly the size of a baseball bat.
The tomatoes are ripening faster than you can eat them.
A few are beautiful. A few are cracked. Some are oddly shaped. Some probably should have been picked yesterday.
And there are still green ones hanging out there as if frost isn't eventually coming. This is the moment to stop admiring the garden and bring it to the table.
Here’s exactly what to do — and I have pretty printables that tells you what to do, how to freeze, and how to label your vegetables when you’re done.
Pick everything.
The green tomatoes. The red tomatoes. The pretty ones. The ugly ones. The enormous zucchini you somehow failed to notice despite walking past it repeatedly.
You don't need a complicated preservation weekend. You don't need to become a canner. And you certainly don't need to spend your entire Sunday sterilizing jars.
I have a job.
Freezer bags will do just fine.
Start with the green tomatoes
If you still have green tomatoes, make fried green tomatoes.
Not later.
Now.
There is something about eating them while the garden is still growing and the days are just beginning to shorten that makes them taste even better.
Crisp outside. Tender and slightly tangy inside.
It's one of those foods that belongs exactly to this moment of the year.
I've already shared my fried green tomato recipe, so if you've got green tomatoes waiting on the counter, this is your sign to make them. Get the recipe here.
The ugly tomatoes are actually treasure
Those cracked, bruised, funny-looking tomatoes?
They are sauce tomatoes now.
Cut away anything you don't want, roast them with onion, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, then turn the whole beautiful mess into sauce.
No canning.
Label the bag, flatten it out, and into the freezer it goes.
That's it.
Nothing fancy. Mine certainly aren't going to win a county-fair canning ribbon, but that's not the goal. The goal is homemade tomato sauce on a night when you're tired and it's dark at 5:00.
And sometime in January, when the garden is buried under snow and you decide to make spaghetti or tomato soup, you'll pull one of those bags from the freezer.
And there it will be.
Summer.
You really can taste the sunshine in it.
Give away the beautiful ones
The really pretty tomatoes deserve to be enjoyed fresh.
Give some to friends.
At least the friends who are still accepting your tomato donations. 😂
At this point in September you may need to expand your distribution network.
Neighbors. Coworkers. Family. The UPS driver.
But save a few perfect ones for yourself.
Because there is still time for one glorious late-summer BLT.
Good bread. Bacon. Lettuce. Mayo. A ridiculous amount of tomato.
Maybe eaten outside if the afternoon is warm enough.
Some things do not need improving.
And then there's the zucchini
The zucchini have probably gotten away from you too.
If they're oversized and full of big seeds, don't despair.
Cut them open, scoop out the large seedy center, and use what's good.
For the freezer, I prefer giving zucchini a little preparation first rather than simply tossing whole pieces into a bag. Shred it for baking, blanch pieces briefly, or roast it before freezing depending on how you think you'll use it later.
I didn't shred any during this particular kitchen marathon.
But I will.
Because February zucchini bread has its charms.
And if you happen to still have some smaller, tender zucchini — the kind without those giant developed seeds — there is one more thing I think you should make.
Ratatouille.
Do it now.
Eggplant is still beautiful. Peppers are everywhere. Zucchini is plentiful. And you've clearly got tomatoes.
The garden is practically begging you.
Ratatouille is late summer slipping quietly into fall: tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, peppers and herbs cooked together until everything becomes silky and rich.
Make a pot.
Eat it on one of those first evenings when the air suddenly feels different and you find yourself closing windows after dinner.
It wards off the chill remarkably well.
A few tools for saving the harvest
A kitchen knife, wooden cutting board, trays, and freezer bags help turn an abundant harvest into something manageable—ready to enjoy long after the garden has settled down.
Browse these practical essentials in my In the Kitchen collection.
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Before summer leaves
There is something satisfying about this particular kitchen work.
Not preserving for the sake of preserving.
Not trying to save every last tomato.
Just paying attention to what you have.
Eating the best of it now.
Sharing some.
And saving enough that months from now, something from this abundant September kitchen can still find its way back to the table.
Bring in the garden.
You'll be glad you did.
Here’s exactly what to do — and I have pretty printables which tell you what to do, how to freeze, and how to label your vegetables when you’re done.
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