Green Gardening: Ripening Tomatoes and Peppers Indoors

I found this great article in the PI that I thought I would pass along. If you live in the Pacific Northwest like I do, it's likely that you have a ton of green tomatoes. It really was a weird weather year! It's nice to know that all those green tomatoes can still be put to use. Not to mention there are fried green tomato recipes. Not my cup of tea but I provided a link to a recipe just in case.



By ANN LOVEJOY SPECIAL TO THE P-I

Quite a few of you have wondered how to help ripen green tomatoes and pallid peppers. The wishy-washy weather we've been experiencing does make it tough for heat lovers to ripen fully. The good news is that both tomatoes and peppers will continue to ripen indoors if picked green. True, they won't taste quite as terrific as those ripened outside, but they'll definitely taste better than anything you can buy at the supermarket.
As nights grow colder, you can avoid losing frost-tender crops by picking unripe bell or sweet peppers and green tomatoes. Carefully gather as many as you have room for indoors, where they will continue to ripen for several weeks.
I'd say now is a good time, since night temperatures have been getting pretty low. A sharp frost will wipe out all tender tropicals overnight, leaving mushy, slushy compost material in place of those promising tomatoes and peppers.
If you are growing your heat lovers in pots, you can bring them indoors -- pot and all -- to grow on in a light, bright place. A south- or west-facing sun porch is ideal, especially if it has curtains to pull at night. (That minimizes heat loss.)
Given enough light and adequate warmth (60s and up), cherry tomatoes will continue to crop well into winter. Tomatoes are not really annuals, and in favorable conditions, they can last for years, or until they get whitefly, whichever comes first.
If all your tomato plants are growing in the ground, pick over the lingering unripe, looking for good-sized, firm, undamaged fruit. Green tomatoes that are mature enough to ripen will be a light, fresh green with a glossy skin. Any that already are starting to turn red will continue to do so indoors.
Start hunting among the best-looking, most healthy vines, taking the largest ones first. Smaller, dense or soft green fruit are better off composted. Avoid any tomatoes that have been damaged, investigated by bugs or birds, or look diseased.
The same guidelines also apply to peppers; the larger they are, the better they'll ripen off indoors. Those already approaching full size and showing mature color will taste the best, but all will be worth eating.
Once you get your harvest home, wash each piece carefully to remove dust or dirt, and trim off any stems. When dry, the twiggy stems can easily jab holes into tender neighbors, a common cause of rot. Another rot-inducer is moisture, so dry each one individually. It works best to place them on baking cooling racks to be sure they are completely dry on the bottom.
Whatever you do, never store tomatoes in the refrigerator. The cold will turn the stored sugars unto starch and they'll lose their delicate flavor in no time. Instead, store your ripening fruit and vegetables on several sheets of newspaper, which help keep them nice and dry.
If your haul is a big one, store it in berry boxes or the shallow plant boxes you got at the nursery. Line each with newspaper and carefully layer in your tomatoes and peppers, making sure they don't touch. If you need to make two layers per box, add several sheets of newsprint between them. Smaller tomatoes and peppers can be stored in egg cartons as well.
Keep your harvest in a dim, fairly dry place with good air circulation, out of direct sunlight. A warm garage is fine, as is a kitchen or pantry shelf. A moist environment like a laundry room may encourage molding, while an overly warm, dry one can make tomatoes and peppers shrivel up. (If you really want dried ones, use a real food drier; the results are a lot better.)
You'll notice that as the reddest tomatoes ripen, their neighbors do too. That's because, like apples, tomatoes give off ethylene, a natural gas that promotes ripening in fruit. You can use this handy happening to encourage slower ripeners to catch up; just rotate your greenest ones closer to redder ones.
Your most mature peppers and tomatoes will ripen over two to three weeks if your house stays between the mid 60s and low 70s. Any cooler, and they'll take another week or so (too cool, say the low 50s, and they'll taste lousy as well). You also can slow-roast the whole batch and freeze or can the results, which are fabulous in sauces, soups and stews.
Ann Lovejoy is the author of many gardening books. She can be reached via mail at: 8959 Battlepoint Drive N.E., Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.