How to Ripen Green Tomatoes

Now that the weather is getting colder, those last tomatoes still hanging on the vine may need an intervention if you want them to ripen.  Then again, you may have all sorts of recipes for green tomatoes, but if not, you can try a couple of these methods to squeeze the most out of your tomato crop:

If it is just a light first frost, cover your tomatoes and leave them on the vine.  Tomatoes need to reach about 85 degrees to ripen, so giving them another week or two of day time temperatures will probably get them to ripen.  Meanwhile, once nighttime temperatures start to drop, you probably won’t get any new tomatoes, so pinch off all of the flowers from here on out so that the plant can use all of its resources to ripen the existing tomatoes.

If it is a hard freeze you are facing, it’s time to pick ALL of the tomatoes.  Bring them inside, tomatoes that have a slight orange hue will likely ripen on their own {kind of like the grocery store tomatoes have to}.  You can try ripening totally green tomatoes by placing them in a warm place and layer them in between newspaper.  The newspaper helps trap the ethylene gas that causes tomatoes to ripen.

Some tomatoes will rot in the process, this is totally normal.  Just remove those tomatoes and compost/throw them away so that they don’t affect the whole lot.  For smaller amounts, place the tomatoes in a paper bag with an apple or banana.  The fruits will give off ethylene gas, which in turn, will ripen the tomatoes {in theory}.  In both cases, check the tomatoes daily for progress.

It’s always so sad to say goodbye to tomato season. 🙁

~Mavis

Don’t forget to use some of those tomatoes to can a batch of Green Tomato Curry Sauce. It’s freakin’ delicious!