By now, many of you are saying good-bye to your summer gardens by canning and freezing all the produce you’ve worked so hard for all summer long, and saying hello to frost and freeze warnings in your area, I know I am. They’ve come a tad bit early this year in our neck of the woods, but the good news is, I saw it coming! In preparation of it, I went out and harvested what I could of all the green cherry tomatoes which I am going to attempt to ripen indoors. Here’s how:
Most varieties of tomatoes need temperatures to be above 60 degrees to finish ripening. Where we live, by October, those days can be few and far between. To speed up ripening of the existing green tomatoes on the vine, pinch off any new flowers. If you’re in an area like us, there is a few things you can do to try and get every last tomato off your vines before winter sets in.
1. You can use the tried and true method of simply bringing your green tomatoes inside and placing them in a sunny window sill turning them daily until they turn the desired red color. This method works best on fruits that are already beginning to change color.
2. You can pull out the entire plant and hang it in a dry, sheltered location, like the garage or basement. The fruits will continue to ripen and will still have some of the benefits of ripening on the vine. Try and take some roots with the plant and shake off any loose soil. You don’t want to hang the plants in direct sunlight or total darkness.
3. You can wrap each individual green tomato in newspaper and layer in a box, no more than 2 layers deep. Place the box in a dark, dry spot and check weekly for progress. It usually takes 3-4 weeks for the tomatoes to ripen, but check frequently and remove any fruits that show signs of rotting. *I personally do not have time to wrap each individual tomato, so I improvise by placing a single layer of tomatoes in a cardboard box. Then I lay a sheet of newspaper over the layer and start a new layer.
Ripening Green Tomatoes in a box
4. You can also place the green tomatoes in a paper bag with a ripe apple. The apple gives off ethylene gas, which speeds up ripening. Check the bag daily.
Keep in mind, not all of your green tomatoes will ripen and, by ripening them indoors, they will lose some of their flavor, but at least it won’t be as heartbreaking as seeing your huge bounty of green tomatoes get killed by a frost or freeze.