Kelly Feehan - Extension Educator

The vegetable garden season is winding down with final harvests and preparing vegetables for storage.

Green tomatoes will ripen off the vine, but the fruit must have reached the mature green stage.

To determine if this stage has been reached, look for tomatoes that are full sized and have a white, star shaped area on the bottom of the green fruit.

When harvesting tomatoes before frost, Ward Upham with Kansas State Extension recommends separating them into three groups. Fruit that are mostly red, those just beginning to turn color, and mature green fruit.

As with any vegetable, discard tomatoes with defects such as bruising, rot or skin cracks. Damaged produce breaks down quickly, contaminating other produce. And are more likely to attract fruit flies.

For short term storage, place tomatoes on cardboard trays and use layers of newspaper to separate the fruit. If a tomato begins to rot and leak juice, the newspaper will keep juice away from nearby fruit.

Hold tomatoes as close to 55 degrees Fahrenheit as possible. The warmer it is, the sooner they will need to be eaten or processed. Do not place tomatoes in refrigerators as this lowers flavor quality. While mature pumpkins and squash tolerate light frost, they are best harvested prior to a hard freeze.

The best test of when these fruits are mature is the thumbnail test. If you cannot puncture the rind with your thumbnail, the fruit is mature. On winter squash, mature fruit also has dull skin compared to the shiny skin of immature fruits.

When harvesting, leave about one inch of stem. Pumpkins are best cured before storing by keeping them in a warm, dry place for a week or two before placing into cooler storage conditions.

Do not cure acorn squash as this leads to a decline in quality. Butternut, Hubbard and most other squash types do not need be cured, although they can be.

Acorn types have the shortest storage time of five to eight weeks when kept at 50 degrees Fahrenheit and 50 to 75 percent relative humidity. Butternut, Turban, and Buttercup squash will keep for two to three months if stored under the same conditions as acorn squash.

Hubbard types have the longest storage life. These squash will keep five to six months if stored at 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit and 70 to 75 percent relative humidity.

For onions, wait until the tops naturally yellow and begin die to harvest. Then cure onions by spreading them in a single layer in the shade or a well-ventilated garage or shed for one to two weeks.

When dry, trim the leaves to one inch and store onions in shallow boxes or mesh bags; or braid the dried leaves for hanging in storage. Onions keep longest at temperatures close to 32 degrees Fahrenheit and under dry conditions.

For information on storing other vegetables, go to Nebraska Extension’s Veggie Garden 101 website (go.unl.edu/veggies101) or call your local Extension office.

If you would like to donate fresh produce to the Antelope County Food Pantry as part of the Grow-A-Row Campaign, contact Brittany Spieker with the Antelope County Extension Office by calling (402) 887-5414 or emailing [email protected].