TOMATOES 

If you want to pick tomatoes that stay fresh and flavorful for longer, look for a few key characteristics including color, texture, consistency, sizes and varieties, and packaging quality. Greenhouse grown tomatoes are picked right before shipping to your local produce aisle, meaning you can find fresh tomatoes near you in every season.

All the information you need to pick tomatoes in the garden and find out when they are ready.  Harvesting tomatoes is as easy as it is delicate: I decided to delve into the subject so that no one has any doubts about how and when to harvest tomatoes. Head down to the garden with a wicker basket and a pair of sharp scissors and follow my tips for harvesting and growing tomatoes.

The right period for harvesting tomatoes is one of the worries that afflicts gardeners in Canada, either because of the countless sources available, or because of the doubts that are encountered in front of the plants: when to harvest tomatoes? Will it be the right period? Are the tomatoes ripe or not?  These uncertainties are more than shareable since each variety has its own peculiarities, characteristics that can vary further in relation to the environment in which the plants are found.

You can grow tomatoes in pots or in the vegetable garden, but in any case, the harvest begins in summer, about 2-3 months after planting. This means that in Canada the first tomatoes are detached from the plants around the end of June - beginning of July. The plants continue to produce until the end of summer, my advice is to go to the garden constantly, at least every two-three days until the end of the season, so that you can harvest the tomatoes as soon as they are ready.

Would you like more precise dates?

In the Canada, the plants produce at most until mid-to-late October, while you can enjoy fresh tomatoes until October-November.

How to harvest fresh salad tomatoes

Tomatoes belong to this vast group, which tend to be large and characterized by a consistent, more or less juicy pulp. This macrogroup includes ribbed tomatoes, and round smooth-skinned tomatoes, called "salad tomatoes", which are often cut into slices inside hamburgers.

Tasting a freshly picked tomato is an experience like no other, but sometimes harvesting in advance can be the best choice, just like in this case: picking tomatoes when their skin is still green or, better, slightly pink, will allow you to increase the speed and quantity of berries produced by the plant. And don't worry about the freshly recovered ones, they ripen even after being harvested: all you have to do is wait a little to enjoy them, until they turn completely red. In practice, the harvesting of salad tomatoes is done easily, just cut the peduncle of each berry clean with the help of a sharp scissors.

Vine tomatoes, how to know when to harvest them?

Vine tomatoes are those small tomatoes that grow, precisely, in bunches, such as cherry tomatoes or plum tomatoes. Very productive and easy to grow, these tomatoes have a unique flavor and can be used both in salads and to prepare fresh sauces. Unlike table tomatoes, these should be picked when all the cherry tomatoes in the bunch have a homogeneously colored skin. The concrete operations in this case are also very simple, all you have to do is cut clean at the base of the bunch, and then place it gently in a container that preserves the tomatoes from bruising.

Harvesting tomatoes for sauce

Sauce tomatoes are those pulp-rich varieties that are used to make tomato sauce or sun-dried tomatoes. They are the same tomatoes with a genuine flavor steamed puree or in the delicious large steamed cubes pulp. These tomatoes should be harvested when they are fully ripe, i.e. when the skin is homogeneously dyed with the typical color of the variety planted. Also in this case, harvesting the tomatoes will be very simple: a clean cut at the stalk with a sharp scissors will suffice.

Now it's time to head to the kitchen! Ready to cook the harvest or start processing it in order to preserve it for longer; Why don't you try steaming peeled tomatoes too? This way, you will have your harvest available even during the cold seasons of the year. What if, on the other hand, you can't count on a vegetable garden but can't do without the intense flavor of freshly picked tomatoes?Don't limit your flair in the kitchen, try Valfrutta steamed tomatoes! A tasty solution prepared by steaming the best Italian varieties: only in this way can we offer those who consume them the true flavor of freshly harvested tomatoes. Try steamed tomatoes already this summer, they are perfect for preparing the tasty tomato cream and Greek yogurt, a quick and easy course, ideal when temperatures tend to be a little too high; or use them in the light soup with diced mint-marinated tomato, a delicious dish that, depending on the season, can be served both hot and cold.