How to Ripen Green Tomatoes before Jack Frost Nips your Toma-Toes

Member

By Ink Spot Freelance Writer
User-Submitted Article

Article Rating: (1 Ratings)

Tomatoes clinging to the vine

At the end of every growing season, most gardeners have at least a few stubborn tomatoes that have yet to ripen. Don't let Jack Frost take them.

You can easily ripen green tomatoes using three items; a cardboard box, newspapers and for the super-stubborn green tomatoes get out your secret weapon--a banana.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Green Tomatoes
Cardboard Box
Newspapers
Banana
Dry Cloth

Step 1

Green tomatoes are a normal part of gardening--sometimes you have very few and other times your entire tomato crop ends in green. What went wrong? Often times green tomatoes are simply a result of poor weather conditions--lack of sun or heat. Whatever the case may be, all is not lost.

The old myth that green tomatoes will never ripen is not true, though tomatoes showing some signs of blushing (a slight pink or even yellow coloring) will ripen faster than those that are totally green.
Step 2

Tomatoes just starting to show blushing

Harvest green tomatoes before the first frost. Toss any that have soft spots, rot, bug holes and other flaws. One bad tomato can ruin a whole box of tomatoes, so if it is questionable try ripening it on your windowsill instead of in the box.
Step 3

Next, remove the stems from each tomato and wipe the dirt off using a dry cloth. Do NOT wash the tomatoes. Washing may lead to rotting problems later.
Step 4

Place a layer of clean, dry newspaper in the bottom of the cardboard box. Add a layer of tomatoes. They should be placed so that none of the tomatoes touch each other. Use newspaper from your next layer to help hold the tomatoes in place. Continue to layer the tomatoes and newspaper until the box is full or you run out of tomatoes.

The top layer should be newspaper to avoid any settling of dust on your tomatoes. If you have a box lid you can use it.
Step 5

Put the box in an area where it won't be affected by frost or high heat. An ideal spot is usually in a garage or closet that doesn't have extreme temperature fluctuations. Keep box away from water heaters, furnaces, freezers and wood stoves. Most people keep it in an area they pass daily and where it can be accessed easily.
Step 6

Check your tomatoes at least twice a month for any spoiled tomatoes. Pull any soft, spoiled tomatoes immediately to avoid spoiling the whole box. Replace any wet newspaper. Pull any tomatoes that are ripe for eating and enjoy.
Step 7

If you find your green tomatoes are not ripening, then place a banana (do not peel it) on the top layer of newspaper. Bananas ripen easily and like other fruits they let off ethylene gas as they ripen. Tomatoes also let off the same gas, but if none of the tomatoes are ripening, then the box isn't receiving enough of this gas.

A simple banana is your secret weapon to jump-starting the ripening process. You can remove it if the tomatoes take over the job and you should replace the banana if it becomes too ripe or spoils.
Step 8

You will be eating fresh, red tomatoes all winter while Jack Frost is out nipping at some other toes and not your toma-toes.

Comments

cheriekuranko said

Flag This Comment

on 11/10/2009 As far as I know, all fruits emit this gas when ripening...bananas just give off a lot.

lynsuz12 said

on 11/5/2009 Interesting, I knew that apples emitted ethylene gas, but I didn't know that bananas did it also.

on 10/17/2009 Has anyone tried freezing green tomatoes for fresh green salsa? Does it work? I thought tomatoes had to be blanched to destroy bacteria, but someone said they freeze theirs?