Green Tomatoes

[Tretinker]

Hi all,

I got lots of great advice for my corn problem and so I've moved on to my tomatoes.

I was late to the party planting this year and so my tomatoes were late to get started and I now have hundreds of green tomatoes.

What can I do with these? Should I leave them, will they go red? The rain we are getting I think will make them split before they go red but I'm not sure what to do for the best.

We don't can much in the UK and finding the equipment affordably is difficult.

 

[TooCheep]

I'm not sure about green tomatoes, but red tomatoes will swell and the skin splits if they have been living through a dry period and then suddenly get a lot of water. It is best to water them during significant dry spells to help avoid splitting. Split skin tomatoes are still quite edible, but need to be harvested and used immediately so that they don't have time to contract disease into the split.

Tomatoes go soft/bad with first freeze. If it is a light frost, then it is possible to cover/protect them so that they can stay on the vine longer and possibly ripen. Otherwise, you will need to harvest and use while green.

There are some recipes that make use of green tomatoes: fried green tomatoes (surprisingly good), green tomato salsa (never tried this). There are many others that you can find with a simple search for "green tomato recipes".

 

[Tretinker]

I'm not sure about green tomatoes, but red tomatoes will swell and the skin splits if they have been living through a dry period and then suddenly get a lot of water. It is best to water them during significant dry spells to help avoid splitting. Split skin tomatoes are still quite edible, but need to be harvested and used immediately so that they don't have time to contract disease into the split.

Tomatoes go soft/bad with first freeze. If it is a light frost, then it is possible to cover/protect them so that they can stay on the vine longer and possibly ripen. Otherwise, you will need to harvest and use while green.

There are some recipes that make use of green tomatoes: fried green tomatoes (surprisingly good), green tomato salsa (never tried this). There are many others that you can find with a simple search for "green tomato recipes".

Thank you, I need to clear the beds down soon so I'm going to give them a couple more days but then start looking a salsa options because my lot go through a heck of a lot of salsa so it would be no bad thing!

The tomatoes get plenty of water because we use the duck water every 2 days on the beds do they are always watered but I though the sheer volume of rain we are getting would tip them over into the split zone. Happy to find out that is not the case but the frost is closing in.

 

[Sally PB]

If any of your green tomatoes have turned a lighter shade of green, or the whitish color they get before they start to turn red, those may ripen off the vine, so keep those separate.

Ethylene gas is what makes them ripen. Putting an apple or banana with those tomatoes may speed things along, as those two fruits give off ethylene. Do you have a table you can spread them out on? They need somewhat warm temps, like 72 or more. Cover them with newspaper or a heavy towel to trap the gas.

Note: put a waterproof barrier under the tomatoes if you have a table that will be damaged. And check them every day. I learned this the hard way.

I've heard of people who put them in drawers, or wrap them individually in newspaper.

I made green tomato salsa out of my late ones that had no hope of ripening. It's... not bad. DH thinks it's waaaay too mild, but his salsa has 8 habaneros per quart jar.

 

[Tretinker]

If any of your green tomatoes have turned a lighter shade of green, or the whitish color they get before they start to turn red, those may ripen off the vine, so keep those separate.

Ethylene gas is what makes them ripen. Putting an apple or banana with those tomatoes may speed things along, as those two fruits give off ethylene. Do you have a table you can spread them out on? They need somewhat warm temps, like 72 or more. Cover them with newspaper or a heavy towel to trap the gas.

Note: put a waterproof barrier under the tomatoes if you have a table that will be damaged. And check them every day. I learned this the hard way.

I've heard of people who put them in drawers, or wrap them individually in newspaper.

I made green tomato salsa out of my late ones that had no hope of ripening. It's... not bad. DH thinks it's waaaay too mild, but his salsa has 8 habaneros per quart jar.

So your DH liked it's spicy! I've got about 300 chilli's so it's could help use them up too.

I don't have space to lay them out but if I see any on the plant that have lightened I'll give them a few more days.

We might not be warm enough indoors for them to ripen but it won't hurt to try. I've read afew people saying put them in a draw with a banana but I'm thinking there is no way I have an empty drawer

 

[Callender Girl]

I don't have the recipe, but friends of mine make the most incredible green tomato soup. I may have to ask for it because I'll be shocked if more than two of the garden's remaining tomatoes actually ripen now.

 

[Tretinker]

I don't have the recipe, but friends of mine make the most incredible green tomato soup. I may have to ask for it because I'll be shocked if more than two of the garden's remaining tomatoes actually ripen now.

I've never heard of green tomato soup! If you do manage to get the recipe I would be super grateful if you could share.....I have a lot of green tomatoes

 

[Sally PB]

I don't have the recipe, but friends of mine make the most incredible green tomato soup. I may have to ask for it because I'll be shocked if more than two of the garden's remaining tomatoes actually ripen now.

I'd like that recipe too please.

 

[Callender Girl]

I will try to get in touch with the folks who made the soup; as soon as I do, I will be happy to share with everyone.

 

[sheknitsandcrochets]

I think green tomatoes are less likely to split in the rain. How big are they? I definitely think you'd want to pick them before your frost date hits.

I know some people try to ripen their green tomatoes indoors. I've only had mediocre luck with this. Some ripened, others just rotted.

I found my favorite thing to do with green tomatoes was make a pico de gallo style salsa.

I just used chopped green tomatoes, some serrano peppers, bottled lemon juice (fresh lime juice would probably taste better), and a sprinkle of granulated garlic (fresh would probably be better). Some fresh chopped onion and cilantro would be good too.