Tomato Ripening

As the summer draws to a close and we start losing those hot days needed to ripen vegetables, we need to start thinking about how to maximize the harvest from all of your tomato plants. Ripening in a tomato is the process in which it's green chlorophyll begins to break down and other pigments in the tomato begin to surface. This change, along with increasing softness and sugar content are what leads to really good tomatoes.

Ready to eat!

In general, the best time to harvest your tomato is when they are turning from orange to red. At this point I set my tomatoes on the counter to receive indirect sunlight and finish the ripening process. Real professionals don't recommend counter ripening. Lots of the ideas center around covering the tomatoes with newspaper or putting them in a brown paper bag so sunlight doesn't hit them and having temperatures in the 65 to 70 degree range. Seems like a lot to go through when the tomatoes ripen just fine on the counter and look really nice.

Need a little more ripening

The weather report for later this week and into next week is for night time temperatures in the low 50's and daytime temperatures in the 60's.  Great conditions for my Brussels sprouts but terrible conditions for getting those green tomatoes to ripen. Here are some ideas on what to do as colder weather starts taking over.

First, make sure you cover your plants with fabric or plastic to keep the frost off the vines. Using an old sheet is a great way to protect the plants.  The good thing about this is that early cold snaps are often followed by some nice weather that can ripen tomatoes.

Second is a method called root pruning.  I have never tried this but have read about it a couple of times. The idea is to insert your spade six inches into the ground in a circular pattern around the tomato plant. The circle should be about one foot away from the main stem. This technique forces all the remaining plant energy into ripening the tomatoes.

Finally, don't worry about it and harvest the green tomatoes. There are a ton of recipes for green tomatoes on the internet.

Garden Update and Onion Drying Rack

For as cool and rough as this summer has been, the garden has really been producing some great vegetables.  The cucumbers grew well this year. We seemed to have the right amount of rain when they needed it to ripen just perfectly. The cucumbers were sweet with very mild skins on them. The green beans have grown nicely and provided several chances to harvest multiple bowls full. Green peppers have been alright but nothing too crazy. They are a plant that really likes the hot weather, which we just haven't had much of. My potatoes, in the growing bags, are just about ready to harvest. I think by the end of the week they will be ready. I will definitely share pictures.

Nice harvest

Just one of the green bean harvests

 

The bees really liked the sunflowers

I wrote about my onions a week or so ago and the proper way to harvest them. After I wrote that I decided to change up my onion harvesting strategy a bit this year. I decided not to dry any of the red onions, but to just use them as needed right from the garden. This has turned out to be a great decision. There is nothing better then walking out to the garden and pulling a big, fresh red onion to slice and put on top of a burger you just finished grilling.

It has been so damp and humid that my yellow onions have had a hard time drying, both in the garden and in a sheltered area in my backyard. To be honest, my sheltered area is underneath our old play set. The area underneath the fort in the play set makes a perfect area out of the rain and sun. However, I needed to come up with a solution to get the onions off the wood base of the play set and allow air to move around them. I did a little research and came up with an idea to make a three foot square dry rack out of screen and scrap wood. I think this turned out really well and my onions are drying beautifully. Thanks to my son Charlie for helping out.

Yellow onions drying the old way

New drying rack

Drying rack with yellow onions on it

eatwell101.com/best-tomato-pie-recipe