Know know what's a bummer? The heirloom tomatoes on the balcony have finally grown. They're big and green. Thing is, the days are now so short and the evenings so cold there's no time left for them to turn red and there's nightly fear of frost. A friend said to bring them in and put them in a paper bag then they'll turn red inside, and that's the part that's a bummer -- not ripening on the vine. Ethylene, apparently. But if they're insufficiently ripe then the bag method will not work. So says Wikipedia.
Cut or pull the plant, leaving the tomatoes on the plant. Hang them up somewhere inside (or even leave them lying on a sheet of newspaper on the table or something) - just so they get some air circulation. You can even cut the plant up into individual branches, as long as each tomato has some vine.
ReplyDeleteThey will not be quite as good as sun-ripened, but they will get ripe. I did this last year and it worked well (and am going to have to do it again this year, since Tomato Doomsday is nigh.)
Alternatively, make fried green tomatoes.
Thank you for the instructions. I'll do exactly that.
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