It’s Tomato Time!

Westlake Ace Hardware offers top tips for picking, ripening, canning, and freezing tomatoes.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (August 17, 2026) – The tomato plants in your garden have been living their best life the past few months – growing, blooming, and offering up bountiful fruit. And if you’ve been successful, you’ll soon have more tomatoes than you know what to do with.

Whether the vines are handing over a slow trickle or a full-on avalanche, Westlake Ace Hardware is offering top tips to help gardeners of every skill level pick tomatoes at the right time, ripen them with confidence, and preserve the harvest so it lasts well into winter.

“A big tomato harvest should feel like a celebration, not a chore,” said Alicia Weber, senior director of marketing for Ace Retail Group, parent company of the Westlake Ace Hardware brand. “Grab the right freezer bags or jars and lids, and you’re most of the way there. It only takes a few simple tricks to turn today’s garden into next winter’s meals.”

Tomato Harvesting and Ripening How-To

• Look for full color and a slight give.
  Ripe tomatoes are evenly colored, and a gentle squeeze should feel like slight give, not mush.
• Twist, don’t yank, and pick in the cool of morning.
  Cradle the tomato and give it a gentle twist at the stem; it should separate easily (snip with pruners if it fights back). 
• Check plants every day or two, and don’t wait too long.
  Overripe fruit left on the vine invites pests, splits skins, and turns mushy fast, so once the harvest gets rolling, stay on top of it.
• Beat the frost.
  When a hard freeze is on the way, pick every tomato showing any color, plus the biggest green ones. They’ll finish ripening indoors.
• Skip the fridge and let the counter do the work.
  Set unripe tomatoes stem-side down, out of direct sunlight, on the kitchen counter. At room temperature, most will ripen fully within a few days to a week. Refrigeration halts ripening and turns the texture mealy.
• Speed things up with a paper bag and rotate daily.
  Tuck a tomato in a paper bag with a ripe banana or apple. The extra ethylene gas gets things moving faster. Do a quick daily check to rotate ripe ones before they go soft and prevent flat spots.

Become a Canning Pro

• Gather the gear first. A water bath canner (or a large stockpot with a rack), Mason or Ball jars, new lids, bands, a jar lifter, canning funnel, and a bubble remover will get the job done right.
• Choose tomatoes wisely. Firm, ripe, blemish-free tomatoes are the best for canning whole. Roma or paste varieties are ideal for sauce.
• Never skip the acid. Tomatoes are borderline low-acid, so bottled lemon juice (two tablespoons per quart, one per pint) or citric acid is a must in every jar for safe, shelf-stable results.
• Blanch and peel with ease. Score an “X” on the bottom, dip in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds, then plunge into an ice bath — the skins slip right off.
• Mind the headspace. Leave 1/2 inch of space at the top of each jar; too much or too little can keep the lid from sealing properly.
• Process for the full time. Boil pints for 35 minutes and quarts for 45 (add five minutes for every 1,000 feet above sea level).
• Wait for the pop. Let jars cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours, then press the center of each lid. If the lid doesn’t flex, the seal is good.

Freezing Without the Fuss

• Skip the blanching for whole tomatoes. Wash, core and freeze them whole on a baking sheet until solid, then bag them up. The skins slip off easily after thawing.
• Blanch first for diced or crushed. Follow the same blanch-and-peel method used for canning, then chop or crush to the consistency needed.
• Freeze in portions that get used. Pack tomatoes in one- or two-cup portions so it’s easy to thaw just what a recipe calls for.
• Press out the air. Heavy-duty freezer bags or a vacuum sealer helps tomatoes hold their flavor for up to 12 months.
• Make sauce cubes. Freeze tomato sauce or juice in ice cube trays, then transfer the cubes to a bag for a quick flavor boost in future soups and sauces.
• Thaw with a plan. An overnight stay in the refrigerator or a dunk in a bowl of cold water does the trick. The liquid that releases as tomatoes thaw is normal and full of flavor.
• Roast before freezing for a flavor bonus. Halve tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil, and roast at 375 degrees until caramelized. Cool the tomatoes and freeze them for instant depth in future sauces and soups.
• Label everything. A date and quantity on every bag means no mystery tomatoes come January; use within 12 months for best flavor.