These are the last of our tomatoes for the season, picked right before the first frost on November 2nd. I wrapped each one in newspaper and put them on a shelf in a dark corner with the canned goods.
I didn't know how long it would take for them to ripen, and I figured it was time to check them out. So I did, 11 days later on November 13th. Ta-da! Two beautiful, ripe tomatoes.
I did find one that was rotten and leaking through the newspaper, but it is the only one I found. I was glad for that.
There were two more that are ripening nicely. I'm guessing they will be ready sometime next week.
If we can get two nice ripe tomatoes each week for a while, that will be a welcome treat. For those of you that haven't tried this yet, like me, try it. It works! For those of you that have used this technique before, please share any words of wisdom that will help the rest of us. Learning and experimenting with things that increase the food on our table is invaluable at this time. It puts just a few more nuggets of knowledge in our pockets and on our table.
Until next time - Fern
We pick every green tomato just before the frost, but I store them unwrapped in some large glass bowls, like trifle bowls or salad bowls. I have used a large canning bowl as well, & sometimes a small commercial fruit box, but I don't wrap them in newspaper. Very few spoil, and nearly all of them ripen due to the ethylene gas surrounding all of them, produced by the ones that are ripening. I like to be able to see the ripe ones thru the glass bowl sides, so I can use them before they spoil. I haveut up 16 pints
ReplyDeleteThank you for another idea, Marivene. It would be nice to be able to see them ripening, then I would make sure not to miss any. Interesting, thank you for sharing.
DeleteFern
Aren't homegrown ripe tomatoes out of season wonderful!! We're trying to get our tomatoes growing but they just don't seem to want to - maybe it's our cold spell of 60's at night :) At least the Asian greens and lettuces are doing well.
ReplyDeleteWell, Bellen, keep your fingers crossed, and keep talking to them, then maybe they will come up. I know there have been things we've planted that I have given up on, only to have them come up after all. I'm sure you've had the same experience. Thank you for sharing.
DeleteFern
Anchorage, AK... We pull up the tomato plants (loaded with green tomatoes), shake the dirt off the roots, turn the plants upside down and use twine to hang them up on a beam in the garage which we keep at 40 degrees, The tomatoes then ripen on the vine, and we just go to the garage and pick what we need! I expect we will still have fresh tomatoes into Dec/Jan.
ReplyDeleteHi Anchorage! We do miss Alaska and the time we were able to spend in Anchorage when we came to town from where we lived out in the bush. It's great to hear from you.
DeleteThis is a great technique. Now we just have to find somewhere to hang them that won't get below freezing. Thank you for sharing.
Fern
We just had our last ripe tomato sandwiches...now the anticipation for the 2015 crop of tasty treats starts to build!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to have ripe tomatoes this late, Fiona, and it's a long wait until next July! What a great life, growing some of our own food. I get such a kick out of it. Thank you for sharing.
DeleteFern
I, as well, pull up my tomato plants, shake the dirt off the roots, turn the plants upside down and hang them in my garage. I have some of the nicest red tomatoes around!! It's kind of amazing but it works!
ReplyDeleteHmmm....and now that I think about it more, it would be hard to hang our plants since I weave them in and out of stock panels for trellising. I'll have to ponder on this one a little longer. But I sure like learning alternate ways of accomplishing the same task. Thank you for sharing.
DeleteFern
Oh! I just put mine in a cool dark spot to slowly ripen, and bring out a few at a time to fully ripen quickly on my kitchen counter. I have four left. I like the idea of hanging the plants upside down from the rafters! I knew this would keep brussels sprouts, but I never thought of tomatoes! You learn something new every day, and I just learned mine. :D
ReplyDeleteIsn't it great to learn something new everyday, Vickie? You just can't beat it. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteFern
From the growing season 2013, we ate our last ripe tomatoes March 1, 2014! We're in northern California in the foothills, about 2600 ft, and we had a dry, warm fall last year, that ended with a bang December 6, 14 degrees F. So earlier that week, we snipped off all the green and not quite ripe tomatoes, medium and small, and laid them out on newspapers on the pingpong table in our 63 degree, dry, finished basement. We made sure to keep the tomatoes attached to their vine, and covered them with a single layer of newspaper. The cherry tomatoes lasted the longest (Ace 100 and Sungold), and we had very few spoil. We've been gone too often this fall to duplicate that experience. They tasted fine.
ReplyDeleteWell, you are the winner. I have never heard of anyone having ripe tomatoes past Christmas. March? That's a long time for them to last without rotting. This is very good information to know.
DeleteWhich reminds me, I need to go check ours out again and see if the two that were starting to ripen are ready. We've already eaten the others. One thing we did notice, is that even though they are still very good, they aren't quite as good as the ones that ripen in the hot summer sun. Thank you very much for sharing!
Fern
After I get done crying my eyes out from all the unripe tomatoes I threw over the fence because it was so late in the season and thought all was lost..............I will remember to utilize these golden helpful hints because there's nothing to compare to home grown tomatoes........sigh.........sob....sniffle........no no, I'm good, everybody just go about your business...........WAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHello. Glad that we could be helpful. Maybe next year's end of garden season will be more fulfilling. Thank you for the comment.
DeleteFrank
Thank you for the encouragement Frank and the VERY helpful advice! I did can around 40 pints and had lots of fresh ones to eat. I hope the animal friends enjoyed the leftover green ones because next season they won't be thrown over the fence! LOL
ReplyDeleteWe unwrapped about 10 small tomatoes a couple of days ago and have been enjoying them ever since! I'm glad I finally tried this. It's great. Thank you for sharing.
DeleteFern