Container Gardens
Do Not Throw Out Your Green Tomatoes!
The tomatoes just keep coming! Now that we are neck deep into fall, I have been pulling up a lot of the plants that are no longer producing. In doing my fall clean up, I’m still seeing a lot of tomatoes – both red and green. The red tomatoes are quickly being eaten up for dinner or canned for future use, and the green tomatoes are not going to be wasted.
It should be noted that once the tomato is picked, the sugars will not develop as well as they would have on the vine. To store tomatoes for fresh winter use, pick the mature tomatoes (light green, turning white), that are without cracks, nicks, bruises, or frozen parts and store them in a cool, dark place to ripen. They will keep for a couple of months in the right conditions. These tomatoes will gradually ripen and be great for winter eating.
Tomatoes should be stored on wire screens flats without letting them touch one another – one layer per flat. This organization will allow air circulation to discourage microorganism growth. Tomatoes can also be stored by wrapping them in newspaper. Tomatoes should be stored in a 50 degree climate.
If you have available space, tomato plants may be uprooted at end of season and hung upside down in the basement. Throughout the fall and winter, tomatoes can be harvested off the vines as they ripen.
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