Harvest tomatoes when the skin is slightly firm, shiny, and uniformly colored for best flavor. As a tomato ripens it will turn from a vibrant medium-green to a lighter shade, with faint pink or yellow stripes or flushing. Later the skin will mature to a uniform red or pink or yellow or white or green—depending on the variety. The exact signs of tomato ripeness will vary from variety to variety. • Harvest a tomato before its skin loses its waxy smoothness. • Tomato flavor becom
