Ripen green tomatoes

How To Ripen Green Tomatoes

One of the worst things about gardening is when you get to the fall and the weather gets colder and you get frost and freezing. If you live in the northern part of the country, it is going to happen. If you grow tomatoes, you will have fruit on the plants that are still green.

You don’t want to let them freeze, and you don’t want to waste them. What do you do?

Fortunately, there are some good options for getting the green tomatoes to ripen so you can enjoy them after the freeze. I have used the box method and have had fresh tomatoes more than a month after the first frost. It is certainly worth the little extra work to save them.

Here are a couple of things you may have heard.

Tomatoes will not ripen if you pick them when they are not mature. This is not true. I pick all the green tomatoes off my plants when I feel I need to pick them. I use the box method to ripen them, and they all ripen. They are not mature. Kellogg’s breakfast is my favorite tomato, and I grow them every year. This tomato when vine ripened is softball size. I have even had ones that are the size of grapes ripened in the box.
The flavor of the indoor ripened tomatoes will not be as good as the vine ripened. This is true. They will not be as good as we ripen them on the vine.
You can eat green tomatoes. Some people do. I don’t care for them if they are not ripe.

There are four ways that I know of to ripen green tomatoes off the vine.

The paper bag method. Put the green tomatoes in a paper bag and close it up. Put the bag in a warm area that is dark. They should ripen in a week or two. With any of these methods, if you put a ripe banana in the bag or box with the tomatoes, it will help them ripen faster. If you want them to ripen slower, like I do, don’t put the banana in with them.
The box method. This is the one I use. Works the same as the bag only you use a box. I like this way better because the tomatoes should not touch each other when ripening. This is much easier to do in the box than in the bag. Put the green fruit in the box and close it up. Put it in a warm spot and close it to keep it dark. In a few days, check them out. Keep checking every other day and take out the ripe fruit. They should all ripen in one to three weeks.
The windowsill method. Use this method if the fruit is showing signs of ripening. Set the fruit on the windowsill where the sun hits the fruit. They will ripen in about a week. You can also go from the bag or box method to the windowsill method when they show signs of ripening. You can let them finish in the box or bag, though.
The hang upside down method. You can pull the whole plant out of the ground and hang it upside down in a warm, dark area. I have read this works. I have not tried it.

Like I said in the box method. This is the method I use. It is the easiest way I have used, and it works well.