Editor’s note: Barbara Porsch is a Permian Basin Master Gardener.

What to watch: Midland gardens and grocery sales pile up tomatoes, squash, okra, cucumbers, and herbs this time of year. You don’t have to can everything. Freeze, pickle, or cook down the extras so summer produce is still useful in winter soup, stew, and pasta. Knowing what to do with an overstock of produce saves money, cuts waste, and keeps West Texas harvests on the table after the heat breaks.

Tomatoes: Sauce and relish work if you want to can, but freezing is faster and easier. Rinse the tomatoes, set them on a rimmed pan so they don’t roll off, and freeze until solid. Move them into a zip-top freezer bag and take out what you need when you need it.

You can section larger tomatoes into a quart freezer bag, which is about the same as a 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes. Scoring smaller tomatoes such as Romas first will help the skins come off when they come out of the freezer. Some people blanch before freezing. It isn’t required, especially with a big batch, but it does keep the color bright.

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Zucchini and squash: These freeze easily, but frozen squash is best for baking, soup, or stew. It will not stay crisp. Eat as much fresh as you can first. Pickled squash is a Southern staple. You can spiralize small zucchini into stir-fry “noodles.” That monster squash that hid under the leaves can be stuffed and baked, or sliced on a mandolin and used in place of noodles in a vegetable lasagna.

Okra: Okra loves West Texas heat and produces more than most kitchens can eat fresh. It freezes well for gumbo and Cajun dishes. Pickled okra is worth the jar. Small pods can go raw into a salad.

Cucumbers: Slice extras into a pitcher of ice water. Pickles are easy, and canning-supply companies sell seasoning packets for different flavors. If you have a spare garage refrigerator, refrigerator pickles can live there without a hot-water bath.

Herbs: Basil will be gone with the first cold snap. Pesto is the simplest way to use a bunch. Freeze it in an ice-cube tray, then bag the cubes. One cube goes into soup, pasta, or on top of cream cheese. Basil oil is great for dipping bread. Chives freeze the same way. Fill a tray, cover with water, and add a cube when you cook.

The bottom line: You don’t need a full canning day to keep up with a Midland harvest. Freeze tomatoes and okra, cook or pickle the squash and cucumbers, and cube the herbs. A taste of summer in a winter pot is worth the freezer space.