When I’m knee deep in tomatoes and making jar after jar (after jar) of tomato sauce and tomato juice and salsa and tomato soup…I get to a point where I don’t really want to even look at another tomato for a long, long time.
Then, as the tomato growing season comes to an end…I begin to feel a little sad that we won’t be able to eat a good fresh tomato for several more months. It is now that time of year. We just pulled our last red tomatoes out of the garden. :(
But…we’re not quite willing to give those good tomatoes up yet. Matt heard about a way to possibly make them last a little longer.
He pulled out the healthiest of our plants…the ones that had quite a few nice green tomatoes on them….and he hung them upside down in our storage room. Apparently, the nutrients in the plant are supposed to go down into the tomatoes and keep them strong and they’ll eventually turn red and be delicious. Maybe?
Hey, it’s worth a try. Now my storage room smells like dirt in a garden. Now that’s not something everyone can brag about.
Another thing we’re gonna try…
Our friend Brenda has an uncle (who has a cousin who has a neighbor who has a dentist who has a florist…)
Just kidding. Our friend Brenda has an uncle who wraps his green tomatoes up in newspaper and they eventually turn red and are very tasty. She told us that her uncle has yummy tomatoes even up until Christmas time! (To which Matt asked, “And do they also still have fruit flies at Christmas time?”) (We’re a little tired of fruit flies around here can you tell?)
Fruit flies or not, we’re going to lovingly wrap up some green tomatoes in newspaper. Because what do we have to lose?
I’ll be sure to let you know how our little tomato experiments go!
Have any of you tried any of these things (or anything else) to make your tomatoes last a little longer? Do you think we might be crazy for trying this?
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An heirloom tomato obsessed friend of mine here in KS has used the newspaper trick and shared the yummy results with us in late Nov. or early Dec. in the past! Good luck with your experiments. :)
I just heard the newspaper idea yesterday! I think I’ll try that- I had no idea they might last a couple of months! Thanks.
I’m not sure on your tomato plants, but I do have a fail proof method for dealing with fruit flies! Just put about 1-2 inches of apple cider vinegar in the bottom of a small glass, and add a small squirt of dishwashing detergent. You’ll have a glass full of the little buzzers in no time!
Yes, both of these methods work. I also have been known to put them single layer in a cardboard box and leave them in my husband’s unheated shop. When they stay cool they don’t ripen very fast and will extend your tomato season for a long time. When you want them to ripen faster, bring a few in the house and put them in a paper bag on the counter, or just in a basket on the counter if you like. They will ripen in a few days for you.
I think my aunt in Wyoming (where winter never really stops, just takes a brief coffee break during July) does the newspaper trick. I tried it while living in CO but don’t think I did it right because I had fruit flies and rotten tomatoes. Good luck to you, though! Did you ever get your sink to drain, by the way?
Laura,
if you get a chance, check your local library for a book called “Stocking Up”.
It’s got allllllll kinds of super-fantastic ideas for storing food through the winter.
There’s several editions, I’ve seen 2 and love them!
Some really cool stuff!
I think I’d just fry ’em up while they’re green and devour them that way!
My husband’s family does the newspaper trick. And he says is always worked for them. They would have tomatoes in December. I grow tomatoes but have never had enough to try it.
I just laid my tomatoes out on a towel in my laundry room and they are slowly getting red all by themselves. Most of them anyway. Our plants froze out 3 weeks ago and I made another batch of tomato sauce on Monday.
ok,so this is in no way related to your tomatoes, but for some wacky reason, i dreamed i was with your family last night. might have something to do with the 1/2 bushel of apples I froze this weekend and thought of you as I was doing it…but who knows…the blogging world has invaded my subconscious! :) I hope the tomatoes ripen well!
Yep, the newspaper works. My FIL does that every year.
I’d never heard of the upside down trick. What a great tip! Found you via Rocks In My Dryer. Glad I did!
How cool! Hope it works out!!
Thank you for sharing! :D
Happy WFMW!
Sherry
Oh great! My tomato plants decided to go on strike until a couple of weeks ago. That means after a summer of no tomatoes, we have 4-5 green ones on each plant. I am going to try this as well!
What a great idea. I hope it works and you enjoy your beautiful tomatoes at Christmas. We got hit with a frost that wiped out our tomatoes about a week ago. :o( I am sad that we didn’t get the green ones out in time. Oh well, there’s always next year.
Fresh produce doesn’t last long at my house. So I wouldn’t know if this works or not.
But I can tell you that getting the indoor temp down below 60 degrees for about 36 hours will get rid of the fruit flies! (If you can handle that.)
If you’re interested, I’m giving away free bakeware on my blog. Comment or link to me to enter the contest and win 4 Handmade Pottery Apple Bakers valued at $36. http://laneypottery.com/2008/10/21/win-pottery-apple-bakers/ Thanks!
Back from my little Costa Rican trip…I’ll have to blog about that. Was great…once we finally got there…after being delayed…after losing luggage…you get the picture, right! Anyway, your famous pretzels are rising as I type! I CANNOT WAIT!!! I’m going to pick up Connor from school and by then, they’ll be ready to shape! I’ll let you know how they turn out! I am also so excited to order some of that alphabet pasta! Good luck with your tomatoes :) Again, extreeemely giddy that Laura’s pretzels are rising in my kitchen!!!!!!
I had no idea the newspaper trick would preserve them so long. What a great idea! I love the ‘real’ tomatoes of summer, and I really hate to see the mealy ones come winter.
I don’t know about the newspaper trick, but we’ve hung plants upside down in our basement and had tomatoes well into late spring.
This would be so good if it really works! Sadly, we just demolished all our tamaters as we have had too much frost already.
Thanks for the idea for next year!
Great tips!! TFS. Will definitely use these next summer.
Neat, I was worrying that my vines loaded w/ green tomatoes weren’t gonna ripen before it frosts. I’ll have to try these ideas. thanks Laura!
Hey Laura, I was googling around to see if my uncle’s advice was true, and found a bit of info about your method as well. The site I found suggested cutting off all the foliage from the vines as they hang. I don’t know if it’s because they are another outlet for whatever might drain downward in all that … um… is it xylum or phloem? xylum up, ploem down? Botany was too long ago!
Anyhoo…. I got the idea that the leaves will compete for whatever flows downward, but if you whack them off the tomatoes get to hog it all.
It’s cold and dark but it looks like it may be going to be cold enough tonight that I need to go out there and yank mine out of the ground or lose them for good!
I did tomatoes upside down in the garden this year, They were healthier, But not very productive. it may have been the weather this year. I will try again next year. But if you would please let me know if this works for you. Thanks
Grammy
I tried the newspaper trick last year and was not successful. I am looking forward to hearing if your hanging method works. I know people who do this with geraniums too, after trimming the roots.
Just another difference between northern and souther hemisphere’s that I hadn’t actually thought about – tomatoes at christmas time. My Grandad-in-law has the best home grown tomatoes and they are always ready in time for a delicious Christmas Day salad to go with the barbecue.