How to Ripen Green Tomatoes

The growing season never lasts long enough to ripen all the tomatoes on the vine. Instead of tossing unripe tomatoes into the compost or eating fried green tomato sandwiches for weeks, try ripening the green tomatoes off the vine indoors. Or you can dig up the whole vine and allow the tomatoes to ripen on the plant in a cool, sheltered location. Either way, it is easy to turn green tomatoes into red ones at the end of the season!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Garden shovel
• Hand pruners
• Twine

Pick and Box Method

1. Before the first fall frost, pick green tomatoes that have turned light green or greenish white and aren't rock hard. Darker green, very firm tomatoes typically rot in storage, so use these fruit in your favorite green tomato recipes.

2. Using scissors, clip the tomatoes off the vine. Wash the green tomatoes gently in tepid water and then allow them to air dry.

3. Wrap each tomato in newspaper or tissue paper. Set the tomatoes in a cardboard box in a single layer.

4. Place the box in a cool (between 55 and 70 degrees F), dark spot, like an unheated basement. The warmer the temperature, the faster the fruit will ripen.

5. Speed up the ripening process by putting two apples into the box. The apples give off ethylene gas, which encourages the tomatoes to ripen faster.

6. Check the tomatoes every couple of days and remove any fruit that begins to rot. When the tomatoes turn nearly uniformly red (or the color they are supposed to be when ripe), take them out of the box and set them on your counter to finish up the ripening process.

Pull and Hang Method

7. Plan on moving your tomato plants indoors before the first frost strikes. Dig a circle around the base of each tomato plant. Then, using the shovel as a lever, carefully pull the plant from the ground.

8. Gently shake excess soil from the root system.

9. Take the vine, green tomatoes and all, to a room with above freezing temperatures, such as an unheated basement or an insulated garage.

10. Pick any ripe fruit and trim away all the foliage using hand pruners. Leave the green tomatoes on the vine. Place disease-free foliage into your compost bin.

11. Tie a piece of twine to the base of the stem, just above the roots. Then hang the plant from a supporting structure, such as a rafter.

12. Check on the ripening process every few days. Pick the tomatoes when they begin to turn red. Fully ripe tomatoes tend to fall off the vine and this can bruise the fruit. Allow the semi-ripened fruit to finish ripening on your kitchen counter out of direct sunlight.

13. Once all tomatoes have been harvested, add disease-free vines to your compost bin. If the vine suffered from a disease during the growing season, dispose of it in your garbage.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't store ripe tomatoes in the refrigerator. It destroys their flavor.

Resources

• DigginFood

[byllz]

on 5/14/2008 What a great idea, thanks for sharing!

[saleem422]

on 5/13/2008 It is great method.

[imagery]

on 5/12/2008 I have also used the paper bag method. The trick I think is the cool, dry temps. I never hear about the apples, that is great.

[writetruth]

on 5/12/2008 I was taught to place them in a brown paper bag. This process works very quickly, so don't let them sit too many days or they will rot. 5 Stars ~!~

[Psalmist4M]

on 5/12/2008 Another good idea to speed up the process that was passed on to me from my grandmother was to put them in a brown paper bag and do not refrigerate. But keep an eye on them because the process works fast and can cause them to rot quickly if not removed in time.