Clearing out the Garden: Wrap up Those Tomatoes!
Yesterday was a sad and happy day for me. Happy because the sun was out and the temperature was in the 70s. Pure heaven. (Amazing weather for November!)
Sad because my husband cleared out our garden beds, harvesting the vegetables we had not brought in yet, and pulling out the tomato plants.
I grabbed one of my favorite aprons and tied it on (my daughter took the camera, she is in love with photography and so talented!) and went out to pick through the tomatoes.
Back to the apron. My friend Cindy picked out this apron for my birthday this year from a vintage store. I not only adore strawberries (you have to visit my friend, Sheila’s blog – Strawberry Cake!), but I really like “old” and I like the fact that Cindy picked it out just for me. Very special.
So Abby had fun with the camera.
And I brought the tomatoes in to wrap in paper (already a big bucket in the garage) to preserve for down the road.
What to do with Green Tomatoes?
-Pull out the ripened tomatoes and use now
-Pull out the semi-ripened tomatoes and put in your window sill
-Wrap the green tomatoes individually in paper bags (or newspaper) and leave out in room temperature (works perfectly in my garage).
-Don’t close the bag completely because you don’t want them to get moldy
Tell me about your garden? Is it harvested now and are you gearing up for (I hate to say the dreaded word …) winter?
(If you have tomatoes ripened and sitting on the counter, don’t forget to try my Sweet and Savory Roasted Tomatoes. Tomorrow I will be sharing Part I of a How to Start Planning for Thanksgiving Day (1 of 4 posts). Get your little notebook ready!)
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I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
I still had so many green tomatoes left when a hard freeze hit last week. I had pulled about a dozen green ones and put them upside down in a shallow cardboard box. I placed the box in our sunroom, which isn’t heated but still gets lots of sun and doesn’t get as cold as outside does (warm during the day but cool at night). That was over a week ago and my tomatoes are ripening *beautifully*! I so regret not saving the rest. I’m savoring every bite of the few that are left and I know better for next year.
you are so cute! I love the photos Abby took. They are great! And I love the apron.
When I was young, I remember eating pickled green tomatoes that my grandparents made. They were delicious.
Already pulled my tomatoes in. They all fit in one brown bag and when ripe I gave them away! Not enough for homemade sauce!
My tomatoes are done, sadly. I do so love your apron by the way ; )
My garden is done for the year. I didn’t get any tomatoes…sadly. Hoping next year is much better.
Forget the tomatoes, I think you get prettier every time I visit your blog!
P.S. If you are ever in Georgia, drive down I75 and stop off in Juliette- that’s where the Whistle Stop Cafe with the fried green tomatoes is at. :)
We just used up our last homegrown tomatoes this passed weekend. We had tons of tomatoes this summer and managed to can quite a few. I love fresh tomato soup from “real” tomatoes. Pair that with a mozzarella grilled cheese sandwich :)
No garden and the market goods are getting a little soft and mealy. I paid exorbitant prices to ship things in from Germany through the embassy, but it’s worth it to have some {safe} fruits during the winter months. I’m waiting for the clementines and kiwi to start being imported- they’re so good in the winter! Thankfully, frozen veggies are pretty easy to come by here, too.
We are already well into the cold season…. just last weekend my husband and I enjoyed a glass of wine on the porch & this week, it’s taken a turn for the cold. Cannot believe it’s already rapidly approaching the holiday season!
Great photos!
You’re lucky, I had to pick all of my tomatoes in mid-September (frost warning). Since then we’ve had record breaking warm weather (mostly). I got them in late, so it was a meagre crop (my first attempt).
I can’t wait until next year. I’ve got the gardening bug :)
Or make fried green tomatoes or green tomato relish! We grew tomatoes this year mostly to get the green ones, but we had to get them at the beginning of the summer here in Texas!
DH just cleared out garden out this week and I too sorted through the last of the tomatoes. I didn’t have an apron that cute to do it in tho.
Darla
No garden here. We used to have a small one, but there’s only two of us and besides not keeping up with it, we just had too much stuff (and I’m not much of a canner, etc. anymore). Couldn’t pass it off to anyone because they were all trying to give us stuff from THEIR garden. :-) So we decided to stop doing it and now we’re just lucky enough that others give us from their bounty.
The photos of you turned out so good – adorable!