Harvesting and Hanging Ramallet Tomatoes for Winter Eating

How to care for the final ramallet tomato harvest in 10 easy steps.

Ramallet tomatoes (as they are called in Spain), also known as piennolo tomatoes (in Italy) and winter tomatoes everywhere, refers to a class of Mediterranean heirloom tomatoes that grow in clusters or tresses. Fruit tresses are strung up at the end of the season and stored at room temperature for fresh eating, ripe and unripe fruit alike. Fruits have thicker skins than ordinary tomatoes and ripen progressively. As they dry off the vine like this, their flavor becomes concentrated. Fruits are great for fresh eating, drying further to sundried tomatoes, and/or saucing. If you're into eating well in all four seasons, this is the tomato for you. They are a great choice for short season climates with long winters.

1. When to harvest for winter storage:

   Wait to harvest your tomatoes until just before the first forecasted freeze. This will ensure that your tomatoes are freshest for long winter storage. In most places and for most varieties you can still have a couple months of harvest prior to this final harvest for winter storage.

2. Notice how the distinct tresses or bunches of tomatoes are assembled on your ramallet tomato plants:

   Every variety of ramallet tomato grows their fruit in bunches or tresses. Depending on the variety and how it grows, this might be a “ladder” of ten tomatoes or 2 tomatoes sharing a stem. Take a little time to familiarize yourself with how the tomatoes on the variety you grew are set up so that you clip in the right place. Don’t stress this too much though, its more of an art than a science and even single tomatoes with a portion of stem attached can fit nicely in a hanging bunch.

3. Separate the bunches carefully with pruners:

   Clip the tresses or bunches so that you get the most tomatoes in each clip. Carefully lay them in a tray as tomatoes can easily break off in the harvesting process and become unstorable by hanging. Don’t stress this either though, as ramallet tomato varieties have a thick skin that allows them to keep for a long time in just a bowl in the fridge or at room temperature. Just stick these fallen tomatoes in your straggler’s bowl!

   Because these tomatoes will ripen throughout the winter, you can cut tresses at any stage of ripeness, even those that are totally green.

4. Make the loops of twine for hanging them:

   I use loops of hemp twine, gardeners or crafters, to hang the tomatoes on. I make a loop by folding about a 3’ length of twine in half and then putting a square knot at the end. I also like to add a little loop at the end for hanging.

5. Placing the tomatoes on the twine:

   Next, I slide the first bunch of tomatoes onto the bottom of the loop, resting a portion of stem on the twine. I will then stack the tresses of tomatoes, resting a portion of the stem on top of the previous stack of tomatoes. I will occasionally twist the twine before adding another bunch of tomatoes to keep the cascade of tomatoes tight and in a line. These cascades of tomatoes can be made short or very long.

   It’s really important to stack the tomatoes within 24 hours of harvest, while the stems are still supple. The fresh green stems sort of bend around the twine and then dry and harden in place, giving the cascade of tomatoes their surprising ability to hold together for months.

6. Where to put the tomato cascades:

   It’s fun to hang the tomatoes in a visible place in the kitchen, because they are so darn pretty. We always do this, and they keep pretty well. They are like bright little friends on dark winter days, and look festive during the winter holidays. However, if you want them to keep for the maximum amount of time, somewhere out of direct sunlight and where it is cool is best. It can be great to keep a bunch in the kitchen for immediate use, and a bunch in a more protected place like a dark pantry for later use.

7. Getting creative about what to hang them on:

   I love to hang them on things I find at the thrift store- like an old wine rack or fun metal sign:

8. Remove rotting tomatoes:

   One bad apple makes the whole bunch spoiled, and so can one rotting ramallet. Throughout their storage life, make sure to remove any that are rotting.

9. Using ripe tomatoes:

   Use the ripest tomatoes first, no matter where they are in the cascade. Usually gently removing some from the bottom or middle wont collapse the cascade. Did I mention don’t stress it?

10. Sundried ramallet tomatoes:

    As the winter goes on, the tomatoes will begin to dry down. Because ramallet tomatoes have thick skins, they will dry down into sundried tomatoes gradually without being baked. “Sundried” ramallet tomatoes will appear shriveled like raisins and are my favorite way to eat them. You can eat them fresh this way or rehydrate them by cooking them in a soup or sauce.