The forecast called for 29° last night so I harvested everything. I put anything blushing at all in the harvest basket, everything completely green into the black tub. I could barely lift the black tub into the wheel barrow. What do I do with the younger green tomatoes that may not ripen? For that matter, what should I do with all the greens to ripen. That may be 150#’s worth and those on the bottom must be getting squished.
by CReisch21
27 Comments
Green tomato salsa,canning is gonna be fun with that amount😁
Put them in paper bags for a week. They will ripen right up
Donate any that you can’t use to a local food pantry. I had several hundred pounds on the vine, more than I could ever use even with canning/pickling/ripening etc… Donate!
I picked all mine 3 weeks ago because we were about to go away, and they’ve been ripening steadily with some bananas. Haven’t tried the paper bag method, but I’ve also seen that recommended.
I started with 2 baking trays piled high, and over half have blushed now. I’ve also had some lovely banana bread from the bananas when they got overripe and replaced. I’m planning to try a green tomato chutney/salsa with the ones that absolutely fail to ripen.
Definitely green salsa. It’s delicious!
Fry them!!!!
Hot sauce.
Any that have the slightest blush will ripen very quickly. There are a bunch I can see in the ‘all green’ bin that fit that definition.
Then reassess with what you have left, anything with tomatillos you can substitute green tomatoes. So they make awesome chile verde. In my house we make Fried BATS. Fried green tomatoes in a bacon- arugula sandwich.
I brown bag and banana them and have tomatoes until December. These aren’t as amazing as garden ripe ones, but are fine to cook with.
https://preview.redd.it/vrq5cix522xf1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1330637eb315f56591a6c051c56b77f71760bdce
Just time is all that’s needed to ripen. We have slowly ripened tomatoes until Christmas.
I did this last night also. Frost Chicagoland.
I’ve brown bagged them gently over the years but this year I’m out spreading some of them out on a table. I will bag eventually; takes a bit of time. Just keep checking.
Chow chow is a good alternative to green tomato salsa. It can be refrigerated vs canned.
But realistically, unless you’re ready to process all weekend, I think you need to put the word out to neighbors to take a bag home for a fried green tomato dinner.
Green tomato chili, roast some to eat that way or use roasted to make chili and salsa. I made a green tomato curry soup with coconut milk and puréed chick peas with a green tomato glut one year, it was delicious!
Chow chow🤷♀️
Pickle them or make tomato relish.
Green tomato relish. It’s easy to make and tastes so good with fish or beans or any meal. I add a small slice of jalepeno to give it a little heat. Delicious.
Shout out to that hard working wagon! I have the same one, and it is so helpful and handy. Based on your tomato haul, you have put in a lot of hard work in your garden and the wagon has been there with you.
I mix them into stews since they add a strong acidic taste. The earlier you add them in (and the longer they cook) the weaker the acidic taste.
Fried Green Tomatoes
Pickle tomato relish fried
I put mine in a single layer in a cardboard box and wait for them to turn color.
Marry into a Colombian family and you’ll never see red tomatoes again! When my tomatoes are in season I almost never see a red tomato as my wife’s family will devour them all green just as thy start to get color.
Throw some bananas in the area which will produce Ethylene gas. That gas is used in commercial scale to rippin tomatoes in the grocery store.
In my experience, even fully green tomatoes that haven’t blushed yet will eventually ripen indoors after a few weeks!
Fried green tomatoes, Green salsa (mild or spicy), why not a green pasta sauce with some pesto & ricotta cheese. Donate some to neighbors, friends, family, shelters.
Chow chow 🤌
Put by the curb on Halloween 👻
Wish you were in my area, I would come get some from you. Maybe donate them to a food bank.