Once you are harvesting, trust me, you will have something ready to eat tomorrow, so why not just pick it when you're ready for it. Well, you say, I often have 4 zucchini ready at the same time, or so many tomatoes or beans that are ripe and need to be picked that I can't eat them all that night. Happens to me all the time. We eat all we want fresh, then I put up the rest.
Sometimes I only have a handful of beans that we didn't eat that night - but it only takes 5 minutes to boil water, blanch them, dry them and put them in a freezer bag. Pop them into the freezer and you've started your preparations for winter. It's so satisfying to think, in the midst of summer, that you are already preparing for the winter. Tomatoes: core and freeze. Even if it's just one extra. Tomorrow another 5 will be ready to pick and maybe you'll freeze 2. Keep doing this every day and by the end of the summer you will have enough frozen tomatoes to defrost and make sauce. Do you know how much time it takes to core a tomato? 5 seconds. Another 5 to put it in a bag and into the freezer. In other words it doesn't take time out of your evening to do this every night, it's simple. Zucchini is similar, but it takes a bit longer because I chop mine into pieces then blanch, dry and freeze. This year I'm going to grate zucchini, measure it, freeze it in 2 cup measurements and have it on hand during the winter for soups, stir frys and zucchini bread. I've heard you don't have to blanch it if you freeze it this way.
Here's a handful of beans I put by last year - I'm going to use them tonight in my garlic scape frittata. We're not getting beans yet, so this second to the last bag will come in handy, and it's just the right amount.
The main thing to remember - no veggies in the fridge, put them in your mouth or in a freezer bag.
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