That shouldn't be the case, and quite frankly - when we set the greenhouse up this year, I thought hat we'd never ever again have green tomatoes to deal with, unlike in the years before.
Everything went well at the start - at least that's what I thought. The first 5 pounds of tomatoes were harvested red and wow did they taste delicious. Then, however, disaster started striking gradually. The plants grew bigger and taller, and I soon had to realise that I had put way too many plants in this limited space. It got crowded, it got congested, and then fungus developed and took over parts of the plants. By end of August then, had to be radical to be kind, and went in with the machete. Loads of the tomatoes were still green at that stage, but I didn't want to throw them away. So, they were collected in big bowls. After clearing out the greenhouse, it had to be disinfected and thoroughly vented.
But what to do with the tomatoes? On the Internet (where else actually), I've found some ideas, examples of what other people did in order to ripen their green tomatoes. I opted for the idea of storing them in boxes. First you have to sort out any partially rotten or faulty fruits, since they could infect the others. Then you put them carefully in the boxes - but not too many: put in one layer on the bottom, then newspaper, and then at max a second layer on top. Finish that with another sheet of newspaper and close the lid. The boxes with the green tomatoes should then be put into a cool and well aerated room, where they are not further moved.
Then you just have to wait. I say it straight out - it's nothing for the impatient among you. I checked them out several times in the first week, but there were no signs of ripening. I was almost prepared to give up, when - after only 2 and a half weeks - the first tomatoes finally turned red.
As of today, and they are now almost finished, I reckon that we've got altogether about 15 pounds of tomatoes out of this year's tomato crop. Lesson learned: less is often more!
Everything went well at the start - at least that's what I thought. The first 5 pounds of tomatoes were harvested red and wow did they taste delicious. Then, however, disaster started striking gradually. The plants grew bigger and taller, and I soon had to realise that I had put way too many plants in this limited space. It got crowded, it got congested, and then fungus developed and took over parts of the plants. By end of August then, had to be radical to be kind, and went in with the machete. Loads of the tomatoes were still green at that stage, but I didn't want to throw them away. So, they were collected in big bowls. After clearing out the greenhouse, it had to be disinfected and thoroughly vented.
But what to do with the tomatoes? On the Internet (where else actually), I've found some ideas, examples of what other people did in order to ripen their green tomatoes. I opted for the idea of storing them in boxes. First you have to sort out any partially rotten or faulty fruits, since they could infect the others. Then you put them carefully in the boxes - but not too many: put in one layer on the bottom, then newspaper, and then at max a second layer on top. Finish that with another sheet of newspaper and close the lid. The boxes with the green tomatoes should then be put into a cool and well aerated room, where they are not further moved.
Then you just have to wait. I say it straight out - it's nothing for the impatient among you. I checked them out several times in the first week, but there were no signs of ripening. I was almost prepared to give up, when - after only 2 and a half weeks - the first tomatoes finally turned red.
As of today, and they are now almost finished, I reckon that we've got altogether about 15 pounds of tomatoes out of this year's tomato crop. Lesson learned: less is often more!
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