If you have a vine full of green tomatoes and an overnight frost just waiting to hit, I feel your pain. But you CAN pick and store those green tomatoes and enjoy them late into the fall or even early winter. Here's how!
The clock is ticking away on fall in Southern Ontario. Like sand through the hour glass, these are the days of the scraggy looking garden. The last dregs of tomatoes sit on the vines as green as can be but if you grab them before the frost hits you can ripen them inside your home and store them for the winter. I know. It's a tomato miracle.
If you, like me, want to hold onto the things in your garden for as long as possible.
Before really cold overnight temperatures hit, and definitely before the frost shows up, pick all of your unripe tomatoes.
How to store green tomatoes
- Place a single layer of them in a basket, crate or cardboard box.
- Place a sheet of newspaper over them.
- Put down one more layer (no more 'cause the bottom ones will bruise) of tomatoes.
- Many people suggest wrapping each tomato individually in newspaper or tissue paper but if you have more than a few tomatoes that might be a bit too time consuming.
- Bring them inside and store in a cool room.
Don't bother with trying to save the really shiny, waxy looking tomatoes. Green is fine. Completely immature and shiny is not.
Check on your tomatoes at least weekly. Some will ripen more quickly than others and some will up and rot on you.
The warmer the room, the more quickly they'll ripen.
If you leave them in a warm place like your kitchen counter for a couple of weeks, they'll be ripe and delicious in no time.
Wondering if you updated this and how they are progressing? I know the few I left on the counter ripened in under 10 days, wondering if the paper held off or sped up ripening? Thanks!
H Sewfrench - It isn't actually the paper that hinders the ripening ... although it does a little bit. It's the cooler temperatures. The cooler the room the longer they'll take to ripen. I've used all kinds and in fact made tomato sauce from the last week for lasagna. I still have all kinds of green ones too. ~ karen!
I read somewhere that if you smack the tomatoes around a little, with a soft rake or a broom, the plant becomes "distressed" and the tomatoes ripen quickly. When we lived in Utah I always had loads of green tomatoes that never ripened before the frost came. We tried hanging them upside down in the basement one year, it was a mess and when they finally ripened, they tasted like grocery store tomatoes. Not worth it. Not worth it at all. I'd like to know how yours taste in a few months?
Oh fun! I like to slice them thinly, salt the slices and then let them sweat a while to soften. I hate it when the batter cooks faster than the tomato and the tomato is still cold and crunchy inside when the batter is done. The salting and thin slices help with that. You can experiment with the batter. Some like egg or buttermilk, cornmeal or white flour, single batter dip, double batter dip - it's all a matter of preference. Definitely include plenty of salt and fresh cracked pepper. Some people like a little cajun seasoning in the batter too. Fry them in hot oil until golden. Here's the key - eat immediately while hot! Many people dip them in ranch dressing. I went to a really fun upscale restaurant north of Dallas that layered them with slices of fresh mozzerella. That was yummy! In Savannah,Georgia, a restaurant served them on muffuletta buns (a specific sourdough bun for muffuletta sandwiches from New Orleans, nearly impossible to find outside of NOLA so here's a recipe - http://www.nolacuisine.com/2005/08/21/muffuletta-bread-recipe/) with olive tapenade and provolone cheese. That was yummy too! Have fun!
Correction: it appears the muffuletta bun is not sourdough after all. You can read more about the original sandwich on wikipedia, if you haven't been to New Orleans to have it (definitely a good reason to go to New Orleans - ha!). Wikipedia gives a pretty decent description of the tapenade too. The fried green tomato version in Savannah was a fun take on the original.
In the spring, I roasted green tomatoes and onions and then blended them with cilantro, white pepper, salt and cumin for a nice very mild green salsa that was perfect warmed to top scrambled eggs, pan-fried potatoes and soft warm tortillas for a heavenly comfort-food breakfast. I grew up in Alabama, so I deep fried a batch too. Texas has gotten to me though. I think I liked the salsa better.
My house is filled with tomatoes. I think I'm going to try making fried green tomatoes for the very first time. Serving suggestions welcome. :) ~ karen
Karen, Thanks so much for this post! Knowing we were getting our first frost last night, I ran out and picked all my green tomatoes yesterday. I had no idea you could do this. It will be great to have more ripe tomatoes in the weeks to come. :-)
Upon reading this post, I jumped up, put on my jacket and picked all the green tomatoes that I was hoping would ripen on the vine before it got too cold. Weather report is warning of possible frost overnight so this post could not have come at a better time. I'm sure my neighbors are thinking I've lost my mind picking tomatoes at 11PM but who cares. I'm happily looking forward to ripe tomatoes in the dead of winter. Thanks from Brooklyn, NY.
- Gitana the Creative Diva
Hi Gitana! I'm very jealous you live in Brooklyn. I'd love to live there. Last time I was in Manhattan we didn't have time to do much of anything, but next time we go to NYC I'm touring Brooklyn! And I ... at this very moment and wrapping up all my tomatoes. I decided to wrap over half of them in newspaper to see if the result is any different than layering them in newspaper. I have *a lot* of tomatoes. Ran out this afternoon the same as you to pick all my peppers and sweet potatoes because we too have our first frost warning for the Toronto area. Good luck w/ your tomatoes ~ karen!
Karen I have a question about the start method. Will you have tomatoes in the winter if you start a plant in your house? I think they need bee's (or some such bug) to pollinate them, don't they?
JoAnna - Well I got this method from Linda Crago who runs an heirloom vegetable farm, specializing in tomatoes. Tomatoes self pollinate. Actually, they don't actually self pollinate, but they can pollinate themselves with a little help from you. The plant just needs a little breeze, or shake now and again from you. You can pollinate it yourself as well with a Q tip. As far as I know, Linda didn't do any of these things when she tried this last year. She usually just lets a tomato plant "do it's thing". Don't expect a ton of tomatoes. This is more of a fun experiment that will result in a few cherry tomatoes. :) ~ karen
Totally works. Just remember to check them, as they will all ripen at the same time. I had to start mine 2weeks ago, and I am now at a few ripe every couple of days from 2 big terra cotta pots.
Okay... living in Southern California I was all full of myself that I had vegies while you still had seedlings, but since we don't have basements, nor anywhere even approaching a cool temp, you win for longest enjoyment of produce!
Melissa L - Technically can't you grow all year round tho? ~ karen
Aaand again you made me laugh out loud in a public place while by myself. The airport this time. It was the ham that did it. The men across from me look a little worried...
Two questions
My neighbors grew (and have kind of abandoned) some tomato plants in our patch of earth
1. Is it appropriate to "borrow" a piece to root
2. Any particular part I should "borrow" - it's quite huge this plant..
I need to go the dollar store and buy lots of plant pots and them somehow camouflage them so my husband doesn't notice all these random plants everywhere.
The funny thing (ish) about this is that my mother used to do this all the time and it used to drive me and my sister crazy - these little shoots in our good drinking glasses sprouting leaves and green slime (when left too long) and now I'm doing it too!
Zoe - Totally appropriate to borrow a piece to root. It's best to stick with a cherry tomato though. Big tomatoes won't work. If it's a cherry tomato you're working with just snip off any small tip or sucker. You want actual stem, not just leaf. ~ k!
I do this every year because we get such an early frost every year. I drives me crazy that we usually get our first frost that kills my tomatoes plants by late Aug. So I bring them all in the house and start the layering process, then I can them. I didn't know that you could put them in a "cool" room and they'd rippen slower! I will try this next year! Thanks again Karen.
Nice! Thanks for the papering method - that is very cool.
Don't forget green tomato mincemeat, fried green tomatoes, etc. All the other methods to use up green tomatoes invented by our fore-mothers.
Oh, a little too late as we had our first frost last week...and still eight million green tomatoes on the vine. I'll try to remember for next year - thank you!
Thanks Karen..You always seem to post things right when I need to know them..Will give it a try!!!
Thanks for the cherry tomato advice. Between the rabbit, the chipmunk and the squirrels getting to the ripe ones before them has been fun. I can tease them during the winter when they see the tomatoes ripen on the window sill.
I'm about to do this this weekend. This should be an interesting science experiment. Thanks for the great post!
I am so glad you told us how to do this!Was wondering what we were going to do with all the unripened ones.Thank you. My husband actually had the nerve to buy store bought tomatoes the other day,I refuse to eat them after what we enjoyed this summer!
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I know lots of people have great success with ripening tomatoes, but I haven't been so lucky. Tried several ways during the years. Must not be in the cards for me. Congrats and "good job" to those who can make it happen!
Sooooo, in order to get the wonderful tomato-ey goodness in winter (especially in a grilled cheese sammy) I am trying some tomato jam made during the height of the season. I have two recipes, and both are savory rather than sweet. I hope it tastes good!
Thanks Karen. for all the inspiration you give. You are one funny chick! (pun intended)
We have so many green tomatoes, so your post is prefect timing. I was so sad to think that we would have so many tomatoes go to waste. Tonight I shall harvest & wrap!