A Greener View: Fall vegetable garden questions – Jeff Rugg

by Jeffrey Rugg, contributing writer

Q: Help! I planted my tomato plants late, and then we had a lot of hot, dry weather, so there were no tomatoes. Now there are dozens of green tomatoes, but our average first fall frost is coming soon, so I think that many of the tomatoes are still going to be green when the frost comes. Can I cover the plants? Can I spray water on them like in the orchards to prevent them from freezing? I only know a few recipes for green tomatoes. What can I do?

A: Tomato, pepper and many other summer vegetables ripen more slowly as the days become shorter and the weather cools off. Leaving the fruit on as long as you can will allow the fruit to get closer to being ripe, which will help when you do pick them. If there are a lot of vegetables to pick, don’t wait until the day of the first frost or you may not get to them all, especially if it gets dark as you rush to pick them.

Here’s some info on potatoes:

Tomatoes don’t store for a long time when you pick them green, but they do store for several weeks. Place the bottom layer on cardboard, and place a layer of newspaper between any layers that you have to stack. Store at around 55 degrees.

If you pick any with cracks or blemishes, you will need to process them within a few days.

Don’t store them with the healthy tomatoes.

You can ripen tomatoes more quickly after picking by placing them in a paper bag. It will trap ethylene gas that the fruit release, which helps them ripen.

You can place an apple or banana in the bag, as they also release a lot of ethylene gas. Only green tomatoes that are mature will ripen further off the vine.

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Email questions to Jeff Rugg at [email protected]. To find out more about Jeff Rugg visit www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2024 JEFF RUGG
Email questions to Jeff Rugg at [email protected]. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.