Update on the Tomato Experiment

It's now been over a week since I started the tomato experiment. There are about 40 ripe tomatoes sitting on my counter or window ledge. I have had to throw about 5 or 6 away that were too rotten to use. So what's been the best way to get them ripe? By a wide margin it's the paper bags with two apples in each. The bin with no apples and just left open is where most of the rotten tomatoes have come from. The box with the tomatoes individually wrapped in newspaper still have not produced a red tomato. I have no idea why a paper bag with an apple or two in it is working. If anyone knows, please leave a comment. I'm just happy to get ripe tomatoes. Tomorrow I will make spaghetti sauce and can it.

Science Experiment

I have about 100 green tomatoes that I got out of my garden a couple days ago. It's turning much colder here and I didn't want them to rot or split from the rain. So I went out and picked them all. Then I went online to figure out how to best ripen them. Unfortunately I should have read before I picked them, since I found out that one of the best ways to get vine ripe tomatoes after the season turns cool, it to pull up the whole plant, roots and all and hang it upside down in your garage. The tomatoes will ripen right on the plants. For me, though, that may have caused a bit of a problem since I was collecting tomatoes from 8 plants and my husband may not have been too appreciative about the jungle that would have created in the garage!

Two other methods could be tried. Wrapping the tomatoes individually in newspaper and then placing them in a box (only two layers deep) with an apple placed with them. The other is to place the tomaotes in a paper bag with an apple and then fold down the bag and let them ripen. So my scientific mind (and that's a joke) wanted to see what the better method would be. I've placed tomatoes in a bag and in boxes, both wrapped and unwrapped with apples. I have one bag of tomatoes without the apple. Some are just on the window ledge and another dozen or so are in a bin with no apple and not covered. I'll check them every day and see the results. So stay posted!