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Save those tomatoes!
Gardening columnist L.A. Jackson offers a clever way to extend tomato season.
Photo by L.A. Jackson
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Plan B
Can’t wait for the last of your tomatoes to ripen indoors? You can always fry ‘em up for a tasty lunch.
Photo by L.A. Jackson
It’s October. Do you know where your tomatoes are?
Any tomatoes continuing to mature in what is left of this year’s growing season are, of course, still in the garden. But cold weather is right around the corner, and with many fruits in varying stages of unripe green, it would be a shame for Jack Frost to put the last bite on them.
To prevent Ol’ Jack from turning the rest of your well-earned harvest to yuck, consider ripening the tomatoes indoors. Yep, I said indoors, and it is very easy to do.
How easy? It can be as simple as pulling up entire plants that still have green tomatoes and dangling them upside down on strings in a dry, cool (between 60 to 72 degrees) spot, such as a basement, shed or garage, where the fruits will slowly ripen. But, with apologies to Clint Eastwood, the only problem with this “hang ’em high” method is that ripened fruit can easily fall off spent plants and onto the floor. Splat!
Reduce the splat factor with an alternative plan of action: Just pull immature tomatoes off vines and bring them inside to finish their transition from green to ripe red. Pick fruits that are free from splits, dings or insect damage, and put them on trays in single layers in a place where temperatures hover around 60 to 72 degrees.
Don't pay any attention to the old yarn that tomatoes need to bask their days away in the sun to ripen. No, in fact, it is better to keep the fruits out of direct sunlight to prevent such intense rays from turning outer skins red before the insides fully ripen. It’s temperature, not sunlight, that properly puts things into motion indoors to mature a ’mater.
You can even fine-tune this storage method by wrapping each tomato in a piece of newspaper. This extra step has two advantages: (1) It prevents rotting tomatoes from spreading their plague to healthy fruits; and (2) such a covering helps to trap ethylene gas, which tomatoes naturally emit in order to ripen.
Storing tomatoes in temperatures that settle more toward the lower 60s will slow the ripening process down to the point that, as I have found out more than a few times, can even s-t-r-e-t-c-h your supply of tasty, garden-grown ’maters until the end of the year.
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October in the Garden
• Bonus veggie storage tip: Winter squash and pumpkins will keep longer indoors if they are harvested with a few inches of stem still attached.
• Raked leaves have to go somewhere, so why not dispose of them while preparing for next year’s garden? Both jobs can be done at the same time if you use "useless" leaves to start a compost pile.
• Before perennials die back or are pruned down for the season, place markers beside them so they won't be dug up during next spring's planting frenzy.
• Remove gasoline from any motorized equipment that will be stored for the winter.
Tip of the month
Why wait for all your immature tomatoes to turn red indoors? Enjoy some of them now by preparing a tasty traditional Southern treat:
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Fried Green Tomatoes
2 green tomatoes, sliced ¼-inch thick
1 egg, beaten
Cornmeal or breadcrumbs
Salt
Pepper
Cooking oil
Dip tomato slices into the beaten egg and coat well with cornmeal or breadcrumbs, adding salt and pepper to taste. Place in a pan with a small amount of preheated vegetable oil, bacon grease or butter. Cook on low-medium heat for about three minutes on each side until golden brown. Serve hot, and please do enjoy.
L.A. Jackson is the former editor of Carolina Gardener magazine. Contact him at lajackson1@gmail.com.