Andrew Zimmern's Peak Season Advice For Growing Perfect Tomatoes

While it's fun to browse the produce at farmer's markets, there is a singular satisfaction in growing your own food. The benefits are multifold: It's cheaper to grow your own produce and you can reap health benefits from spending time in your own garden. Tomatoes also offer lots of benefits, like preventing cancer, improving heart health, and offering protection against sunburns, according to Healthline. And, if you can't get 'em fresh you can surely have your pick of a vast selection of canned varieties at your local grocery market.

For those with tomato gardens, if you have yet to reap your tomato bounty, there is one key piece of advice that American chef and Emmy-winning TV personality Andrew Zimmern has for those who grow tomatoes at home. And the advice is not what you may think as it involves doing nothing at all.

Check out what the "Bizzare Foods" host had to say on Substack.

In a recent video post shared to his Substack page, Spilled Milk, titled, "Go Fork Yourself: Peak Tomato Season," Zimmern explained his number-one tip for tomato growers during peak tomato season: "I hope you are starving your tomatoes of water. By this time [in peak season], the fruit has set on the vine. And remember, all fruits and vegetables exist for one purpose only: For their seeds to propagate. That's all thy do. So you want them to put all their energy towards the fruit or vegetable." Since the seeds are inside of the fruit, the remaining moisture in the vines and biodynamic energy will be directed to the tasty seed vehicle.

Basically, instead of new growth, the energy of the plant will go towards ripening the fruit, as confirmed by SF Gate. Once the tomatoes are fully ripe, get ready to enjoy them fresh or even bake a savory tomato pie.