Monday, September 26, 2011

Harvest Monday ... and Ripening Tomatoes Indoors

I'm joining other bloggers over at Daphne's Dandelions as we share our weekly harvests...it's fun to see what others are harvesting and what they are cooking up with it...check it out!


I've still been harvesting tomatoes and cucumbers ... and now some winter squash is ready to go into the Hobbit Hole .






I picked a lot of tomatoes that were just barely beginning to blush since rain was forecast for this week (and showed up right on schedule; it's been coming down in buckets today).  I did a lot of reading on various blogs for ways of ripening tomatoes indoors, and this is what I came up with ...




I put a bunch of shredded paper in the bottom of a fruit box with my under ripe tomatoes ... and placed apples in two corners of the box.  The apples will supply ethylene gas which will help the tomatoes ripen ...




... I added another layer of shredded paper and another layer of tomatoes and put the cover on the box.  A week later they look like this ...




I'm going to be turning these into homemade ketchup later this afternoon : )


Enjoy!
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6 comments:

  1. Honey from the BeeSeptember 26, 2011 at 2:52 PM

    Those are so nice and juicy red! Next summer I'm going to try to have a small garden again. I'll hope for 1/4 the results of yours. : )

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  2. RobinSeptember 26, 2011 at 3:37 PM

    You are still getting some nice harvests from your garden.

    I have never heard of that trick to ripen tomatoes. It looks like it worked out well.

    I can't wait to hear about your homemade ketchup!

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  3. Mrs.PicklesSeptember 26, 2011 at 8:20 PM

    so that is how you are suppose to ripen tomatoes. I just have mine in a big ole box and pick out the ripe ones from time to time!

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  4. Rainy Day GardenerSeptember 26, 2011 at 9:20 PM

    That ripening trick worked out really well! I've been using bananas. Just like you, I was outside harvesting tomatoes during a break in the rain. I have more on the vine..but they aren't blushing yet.
    Homemade Ketchup is the best!

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  5. Barbie~September 27, 2011 at 6:54 AM

    They look great, but I like to spread my ripe tomatoes out so I like when they come in one or two at a time. LOL. Then again, I'm not making ketchup. :-)

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  6. kitsapFGOctober 12, 2011 at 6:09 AM

    That almost exactly how I ripen my tomatoes off the vine, although I just set them on a sheet of newspaper in the box and cover with another news paper sheet. Get the same good results. The key is to have matured enough tomatoes (ideally starting to crack color) that are disease free and then provide them with a steady warm environment (70 degrees is ideal). I almost always have really good success in ripening off the vine if the tomatoes are far enough along when I pull them.

    Love the Hobbit Hole by the way. Missed the original post.

    ReplyDelete