Monday, September 23, 2013

The End of the Tomatoes


In the last week or so, we have had two nights when the thermometer dipped to about +1, which is cold enough to nip sensitive plants like zucchinis and cucumbers. The tops of the tomato plants also got burned, so I decided to take in what is left of them to let them ripen in the house. I also tried a new method of taking them in.






My friend Lucinda told me that instead of taking in the tomatoes that are left on the vine to let them ripen indoor, she pulls up the whole plant and hangs it up. She contends that tomatoes that ripen this way taste better. I would not be surprised if this was the case, as the sap left in the plant probably goes to the fruits left on the vine.




The traditional way of ripening tomatoes is to wrap them in newspaper. Putting them on a sunny windowsill is not recommended as they no longer need light at this stage. Sitting in the sun on the sill, the outside turns red but the tomato stays green inside. It is preferable to put them in the dark, in a warm place.

I decided to try Lucinda's technique. I just pulled the whole plants out of the ground and hug them in a warmer temperature. At least some of the fruits should finish ripening. Once they are hanging up like this, it will probably be easier to keep an eye on them than it would if they were each wrapped in newsprint.


Of course some tomatoes did fall off the vines as I was pulling them up, and these I will try to ripen the traditional way.




8 comments:

  1. I went and cleared out out our community plot when temps hit minus 1. We have one tomato plant still at the house, with one brave green tomato on it...maybe I'll experiment.

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  2. Je suis bien curieux de voir qui gagnera le test de la saveur: la tomate sur le pied ou bien celle dans le papier.

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    1. Bonjour Pierre,
      Je ne sais pas si la différence sera bien grande. Je te tiendrai au courant!

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  3. I am intrigued by your upside down tomatoes. What a great idea. I'll bet it works really well.

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  4. The upside down tomatoes does seem like a good idea. As for wrapping vs windows, I have to say I found 'out of sight out of mind' a bit of an issue with wrapping! Sad to see the season end.

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  5. Never heard of the upside down plant technique. Space to do this could be a problem though.

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    1. Actually Sue, you've hit the nail on the head. I was not able to put up as many plants as I would have liked to have tried for a lack of (warm) space.

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  6. you learn something new everyday. I didn't even know that putting tomatoes on window sill was a no-no. Thanks for the advice and the new technique of ripening them in that way.

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