Wine cooler = Extended tomato season

It's that time of year!

When the tomato harvest starts to overwhelm, that's when I start popping them in the wine chiller to slow down ripening. It really works.

And next month, before the first frost hits, I'll pick everything that's started to blush and put them in the wine chiller to ripen slowly in there. This keeps me in ripe garden tomatoes through December.

The wine chiller, set to 60 degrees F, is actually warner than many September evenings, but go ahead — cue all the panicked responses from the "you're ruining your tomatoes" crowd.