If they don't get ripe before the first frost, just pick them the night before the frost and bring them in to ripen.

And then there's fried green tomatoes... Yum...

:) Mary

I have 25 left on the vine with some size and they are slowing turning red. I pick them when mostly ripe now that the nights are cool. They sit on the windowsill in the shade for a day or two longer and still are great tomatoes. I am NOT looking forward to winter tomatoes but the ones on the vine are marginal or those smaller ones that come in a red mesh bag (also on the vine).

How long did it take before you got the first ripe tomato again? Are they in full sun? Steady water, with good drainage? Regular fertilizer? Lots of compost worked into the soil?

You also have to remove the suckers that grow between the stem and main stalk. I rub them off while small. Allow one or two to grow but remove all others so you have 2 or 3 main stems. I also use blossom set spray that works wonders on fruit set.

Hmmmm, you guys have some great tomato growing weather down there, Adrea. I wonder what happened with yours. Good advice about picking them before ripe, though, just in case.

I hope you get to taste at least one this year! Nothing better than maters right off the vine. Yummy!

Brenda

I picked my last 25 green ones 2 weeks ago - still got 2 ripe ones in the fridge, 6 on the counter that will be ripe in the next 3 days, and 6 in an ice cream pail covered with a towel the are about 7 -10 days from being ripe. I've heard that if you wrap green tomatoes in newspaper and keep them cool they will ripen slowly - you just unwrap a couple each week - never tried it myself.

Sarah - Put an apple in with them when wrapped in the newspaper to create ethylene gas which is what commercial growers use to ripen up tomatoes. (I think I spelled and got the correct gas name!) I didn't look it up and it's from memory.

The apple must be cut in half to produce the gas right away and the tomatoes don't have to be wrapped in newspaper. They do need to be in a closed container with the apple. Sandy

A man I work with said his grandmother used to harvest all her green tomatoes before the first frost and she wrapped them in newspaper and stored them under the bed. They would last for months! I've never tried it myself though.

Well, that's the odd thing. I've not got a ripe one yet. Last week these plants just all the sudden decided they would fruit.

Full sun, water dusk and dawn, lots of compost, fertilizer on the iffy side as Ocean was doing it.

He was taking care of the whole garden growing armenian cucumbers and watermelon (and my chives and a passion flower). The cukes and melons are toast now but the tomatoes are just fruiting....