At the end of the season, we had many green tomatoes still on the vine that would not ripen. I asked my mom if there was anything we could do to get them to ripen indoors, and she told me about the newspaper trick. Have you heard of it? I just picked the green tomatoes off the vine, wrapped them loosely in newspaper, and stored in our dining room. I checked them every few days to see if any were ripe because if left wrapped too long, the ripe tomatoes started to rot. I was really surprised that it actually worked!
We had some green tomatoes still on the vine from this year's garden, so we're trying the newspaper trick again. Last Sunday I picked the remaining tomatoes off the vines and sorted them into the newspaper pile for wrapping, the chicken treat pile if they weren't suitable for ripening, or the eating pile because some of them were already ripe and ready to go. I hope it works for us again this year!
When I was pulling the tomatoes off the vines, I found this one cute little cherry tomato that had a star pattern on top. I guess from the stem? Not really sure what caused it, but I thought it was so cute!
Have you tried the newspaper trick? Or do you have another way of getting green tomatoes to ripen indoors? We'd love to hear any other methods you'd like to share.
And last but not least, we'd like to wish all of our American readers a very happy Thanksgiving holiday. We are so grateful for each and every one of you (American or not!) who reads and takes the time to leave a comment. It is so nice to feel validated and encouraged and we truly appreciate it.
~Tammy & David
Shared with Country Homemaker Hop, Farmgirl Friday, Food On Friday
I already miss fresh garden tomatoes, our season ended a while ago. I was hoping to put the cold frames over the plants to extend the season, but didn't get it done in time. I usually leave the green tomatoes on the counter or put them in a paper bag, but I'll have to try newspaper next time. Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving s well!
ReplyDelete~Rob
Wouldya just look at that star! How cool is that?!!
ReplyDeleteI love the trick, although I haven't had cause to use it.
Have a wonderful holiday. Continued blessings...
This was quite interesting - gave me some ideas :)
ReplyDeletelovely tomatoes :) didn't know the newspaper trick! cool.. and happy Thanksgiving to you. we don't celebrate it in Portugal. xxo
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this! I have done the newspaper before and it does work well to extend them into December even! Right now we have 3 strainers full and they are ripening so fast that I am using them up in soups, sauces, chilis and of course for fresh eating. Maybe I can wrap a few to take us into late December...Have a super amazing Thanksgiving! Blessings!
ReplyDeleteI've heard of using brown paper bags, but not newspapers. Worth a try. Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteHugs from the farmhouse,
Cindy
Thank you for this information! I guess it never occurred to me that I should wrap my tomatoes in newspaper. Great tip!!! Happy Thanksgiving my friend!!!
ReplyDeleteGlad I found another Highland Cattle lover!! :-) Thanks so much for stopping in at Cranberry Morning. My husband's grandpa used to pull the whole tomato plant up from the ground once there was threat of a hard frost, and set it on the garage floor which had been covered in newspapers. Not all of them, but many of them continued to ripen. Love that star pattern, and love it that you moved from the city to the country. I've lived in the country all my life (with a few brief intervals away) but have never had chickens. I'd love chickens if I could persuade my GSD to be kind. He is 11 1/2 years old, and you know what they say about teaching old dogs! :-)
ReplyDeleteOh. One more thing. I think it's a great idea that you wrap those tomatoes individually, btw.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great tip; I'll have to tuck it into my tips notebook.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful, joyful Thanksgiving!
Good tip, thanks!! I will remember it for next year, this year, I just made green tomato cake! ;)
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving to you guys!
Great idea, I'll remember that assuming I get any tomatoes next year!! It was so bad this year we barely got any green ones, except for cherry tomatoes, plenty of those.
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat idea, I have not heard of doing this with tomatoes. Thanks for sharing the tip. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of the newspaper trick. I hope it works well for you again! Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteI have always used the newspaper trick it is wonderful how it works. I never got a star one though:)
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving. B
That's a great tip - thanks. I can barely grow tomatoes outside, but now that I know I can ripen them inside, that's a help. We LOVE tomatoes in our house.
ReplyDeleteI know my MIL used this method years ago when she was feeding a family of six.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving!
I've never seen a star tomato before! Neat find.
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog thru Elaine at Sunny Simple Life. I've scrolled thru a bit and am liking what I'm reading. It's a well-written blog.
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought you might be Canadian but then I see you're from my grandma's neck 'o the woods in Missouri. I went there once (I'm West Coast-USA) and got to see towns I'd heard her mention when I was a tiny little thing, like Cabool, Lebanon, etc. Her family's farm was deep in back country, dirt roads but we think we finally nailed its location from ancient maps, where my ancestors going back several generations had rather vast acreage although, from what we could see, no one has lived on any of that rural land for a long, long time. This was almost 30 years ago; maybe it's different now. I think it was a city called Springfield where I experienced one of the most exciting storms of my younger life, with rain coming down in June like I'd never seen, not to mention the thunder and lightning.
I don't have chickens but, so far, I like a lot of your recipes for good food, so I'll be back. I love how on so many blogs how everyone is wishing each other a Happy Thanksgiving Day today; yes, it is indeed a day of gratitude for U.S. Americans. So, Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Hi Vicki, so happy you found your way here! Yep, we're in MO and actually one of my best friends is from Cabool. Thank you for the nice comments and I hope you come back soon :)
DeleteHi Tammy.. Hope you had a lovely day.. I always put my tomatoes in brown paper bags a few at a time.. I find it too hard to unwrap the newspapers.. I had done that once.. I am just lazy, I guess.. Your weather is so much warmer than ours.. Our tomatoes are long gone.. I love them.. The frost this morning was so thick you would think it had snowed in the night but later today it was lovely..
ReplyDeleteTake care, my friend..
Good tip - thanks for linking it in to Food on Friday. Have a great week.
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ReplyDeleteNice trick! I love that tomatoe with the star pattern, it looks like a Christmas ornament, pretty!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this with me Tammy, I am going to try this with my tomatoes.
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