Monday 11 October 2010

Last of the Summer Wine...

...or vegetables to be precise! That's right; although the UK basked in radiant autumnal sunshine and warmth this weekend, the heady heights of summer's vegetable growing are now well and truly over.

I went for a morning run up to the allotment this morning before work to see if there was anything left for me to salvage before I started putting the bed to bed for the winter. I've managed to pick one last courgette, which in fairness, is now a colossal marrow, along with several green tomatoes:

Whilst I've enjoyed many successes this year on the London Vegetable Garden allotment, my large 'Pomodoro' tomatoes will not be one of them. Grown from seed on a windowsill, they have taken a long time to swell and thus have failed to ripen in time. I'm actually quite gutted, as I thought these would make a large and triumphant addition to my list of home-grown vegetables (although technically a fruit), but it seems they just weren't to be this year.

I'm going to attempt to ripen these tomatoes at home though in one last valiant attempt! I've heard that putting green tomatoes in a cardboard box with some bananas is a great way to ripen them up, as the gases given from bananas act as a natural ripening agent.

Does anyone else have any proven ripening methods? I'd appreciate your knowledge!

11 comments:

  1. Bag yourself a couple of bananas!
    The ethylene that they naturally emit in abundance could, i hope ripen your rather lovely looking tomatoes, otherwise.... you could batter them and then fry them :P

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  2. I just ripen them in a colander at room temperature - or make green tomato relish! :)

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  3. Good luck with getting green tomatoes to ripen off the plant: it doesn't work in my experience. Luckily green tomato chutney is the food of the gods... and there are plenty of recipes out there.

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  4. Yes it's so sad that everything is slowing down now... I've been becoming a bit disillusioned with all of the dying plants on the windowsill. Are you planning on growing any winter veg in your allotment or not?

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  5. My grandad has an allotment for many years now, and with unripe tomatoes, he either puts them in a draw lined with newspapers, or wraps them in a brown paper bag placed in a plastic bag.

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  6. Nature has so much to give to us. All the plants are filled with all the nutrients required by the body to keep it healthy. Also some plants help to fight against disease.

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  7. These veggies are so fresh and coloful.

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  8. The banana method has worked in the past for me, but it's inconsistent!

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  9. My Gran used to ripen her tomatoes on the windowsill. This seemed to work really well, providing there was a bit of sun.

    If not, that green chutney idea sounds good!

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  10. Try putting them in a lunchbox along with a banana and ensure the lid is on securely, they should ripen in a few days

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