Could someone please help me.

[BettyR]

I'm not used to cold weather...I have a garden full of tomatoes and it's supposed to get down to 30° in a couple of nights...

what can I do about my tomatoes? I really don't want them to ruin.

If I cover them will it keep them from freezing? ON the other hand it looks like we are going to have a real winter here for the first time in a very long time...if that's the case does that mean I can just kiss my tomatoes good by?

 

[Mahonri]

Pic the ripe ones and cover the rest with a tarp at night. That should give you some more time.

2008 is turning out to be the coolest in a decade.

I love global warming.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Quote:

Mahonri you crack me up...

You can even pick the green ones you know. We did that at the end of this season. We had over 50 pounds of green ones on the vine and were getting a cold snap with the possibility of frost so I picked all of them and stored them wrapped in newspaper in a large cardboard box.
Here's the thing to know; when tomatoes ripen they omit a gas that will ripen the other fruits around them. So even if you pick the greens, just put them near a couple of reds and they'll start to turn. On the flip side, if you want to store the green ones for a while and only use a little at a time you need to be very diligent about removing the surrounding ones as they change or you'll suddenly have a rotten box of 'maters.
Enjoy.

 

[Rte.66_chicks]

You can pick them all and set them to ripen in a single layer in a flat box or paper bag in a dark place. They won't taste as good as vine ripened, but at least they won't be wasted. There are also green tomato pickle and relish recipies out there, and I'll bet a lot of members are going to respond with their favorite recipies. You might check out the BYC sister website about gardening. A link is on the bottom of the page.

 

[ibpboo]

Yes, cover them up with a tarp or blankie!

Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[BettyR]

Thanks everyone...I'll send DH to the store for a tarp...I'm hoping the weather man is getting a little over excited about the cold weather and is over estimating how cold it's going to get. He has a tendency to get a little excited about things like this.

 

[BettyR]

Quote:

Rte.66_chicks :

You can pick them all and set them to ripen in a single layer in a flat box or paper bag in a dark place. They won't taste as good as vine ripened, but at least they won't be wasted. There are also green tomato pickle and relish recipies out there, and I'll bet a lot of members are going to respond with their favorite recipies. You might check out the BYC sister website about gardening. A link is on the bottom of the page.

If it keeps getting cold I guess I'll go ahead and pick them. I really appreciate the advice.​

 

[AhBee01]

Make sure when you tarp them you don't just lay it onto of the plants, make a tent like cover, so you won't damage the plant. You might already know this, but having told this to someone once they just tossed the blanket over the maters and their plants broke!!! A newbie to the whole gardening thing at the time. I didn't think I had to go into great detail but sometime you just don't know!!!
I wish I had maters right now, our garden was a loss do to a hail storm this summer and looking out the window at a few inches of snow, and temps at 16! ikes!!!!
Brenda

 

[BettyR]

Quote:
Thanks...I really appreciate you taking the time to tell me about this...we so very rarely get cold weather here that covering stuff for cold weather is just not something I'm familiar with.

The plants got so big and heavy with tomatoes that I couldn't hold them up with steaks anymore so I covered the ground next to the plants with some pine shavings and let them lay over...so they are on the ground but they are covered with tomatoes and still putting on new blooms.

I had planned on trying to build a tent over them with a couple of plastic drop cloths like you use for painting and maybe put a candle under it to add a little heat. Do you think that would work?

 

[Rosalind]

No, don't do the candle. They will be OK with the tarp over them for the night by itself, so long as it's getting warm-ish during the day.

Otherwise, you can also pull up the whole plant by the roots and hang it upside down in the basement. The tomatoes on there will keep getting ripe, you can just pick them as they are ready.