It was a beautiful fall day here in Southern New Jersey. Temperatures in the 60's, a clear, blue sky and a gentle breeze blowing...perfect to spend some time in the yard. I put the garden to bed for the winter. The smell of basil was delicious as I pulled out the plants...I hated to see them go! I picked the last few peppers and we're having them and some tomatoes in a pasta salad I made to go with dinner. But...since I planted the garden very late this year (the neighbors did some landscaping and as a result my garden flooded and had to be replanted) I've wound up with a lot of green tomatoes. Since I don't like them fried, what else can I do with them? If I leave them on the counter, will they ripen? Should I put them in newspaper inside a box to help them ripen? (I found that online.) I know that so many of you have gardens, farms, etc., I thought you'd be able to help me. 
Here are a few other pictures from today...the view from my front porch and one of my husband's little bird houses.
14 comments:
If you put green tomatoes in a box with a lid they will ripen nicely. I have done it every fall for years. You have to check regularly for ripe ones and spoiled ones because they ripen surprisingly fast.
joyce is oh so right -- they ripen really fast if the box has a lid and isn't too big -- the tomatoes give off a gas that ripens them, when its trapped by the box they redden quickly. If they're a little to slow for you though, put a ripe apple in with them but be careful to watch for spoilage!
I just put my green tomatoes on the kitchen windowsill and they ripen just fine. But I have heard about putting them in a brown bag to hasten the ripening. Just never tried it.
And I'd be HAPPY for you to send me some of those as I LOVE fried green tomatoes and my tomatoes fizzled this year so I never got any. :-(
Don't laugh - green tomato pickles are the best !!!!!I'll find the recipe for you...They're addictice!!!
Mom always lined hers up along the kitchen counter and let them ripen slowly. She had to pick them pretty green because she had a bird problem - they were pecking the red ones! She said she didn't mind if the birds got one, but these birds moved from tomato to tomato, putting a hole or two in each tomato.
She also didn't like the splits in the skin she sometimes got with letting them ripen on the vine.
Maybe try all three methods? Let us know which one one works best.
I have had green tomato salsa...
I find if they are totally green, they ripen best in the box with newspaper. The ones that have already started to turn color ripen best on the kitchen counter. If you put them in a cool place in a box they will ripen more slowly and then you can have some ready in November. Just remember to check them often so they don't rot! I tried green tomato dill pickles and they were really good in salads.
Hi Carolyn, what a lovely time you had in the garden. Putting it to be is rather sad, but the promise of next year is always there..*VBS*
Lovely pictures..very tranquil. And I do like the blocks you are hand piecing. Very nice block choice and fabric choice also. Both are just lovely. Hugs, Finn
My Grandmother use to make green tomato pie. I don't remember how but I do remember it was good. I supose it would take a lot of sugar.
Rae
I have used the newspaper trick many times...works really well.
Carolyn,
Your basket of green tomatoes made me think of my grandma, Ida Fischer, who would ask my dad to go buy green tomatoes and then fry them up for her when she lived in the nursing home. Thanks for the memory!
Hugs
Laurie
It looks like you have enough tomatoes there to try a couple of different ripening methods and then let us know which worked best--just leaving them on the counter to ripen or putting them in a box to ripen. Let us know what works.
People in the UK use green tomatoes to make chutney - never made it myself but if you google you might find a recipe :o)
I like them fried but you don't--they make good pickles and I bet that chutney Anne mentioned would be good as well as it is on the same order. The sweet version I like better on the pickles--some commercially made ones I bought were too peppery for my tastes.
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