Saturday, October 20, 2012

As Tomato Season Winds Down


































Last week the temperatures have been hovering and  dipping around freezing point.  I was confident that my winter crops of kale, collards and Swiss chard could sustain the cold, but I was worried about my tomatoes and the last of my peppers, squash, cucumber and bean plants.  I was debating about creating a make-shift cold frame or draping plastic or blanket over the plants, but the tomato season was winding down.  The  days were getting shorter and the temperatures were dancing around freezing, but the tomato plants were still swollen and heavy with fruit.

I asked my guests Manny, Oswaldo, and Brandeis students to pick all the tomatoes, peppers, squash and beans. We had four large bowls of cherry tomato, jubilee, heirlooms and beefsteaks and a few peppers, cucumbers and beans. Those tomatoes that were in the verge of turning red or orange depending on the variety, I placed them in a brown paper bag to ripen them. Most of the tomatoes, however, will stay green.  What do I do now?

One of my staff, Karen is an avid gardener and a foody.  She asked me for some green tomatoes to take home to make green tomato relish, pickle tomatoes and her favorite, fried green tomatoes.  She shared her recipe for fried green tomatoes and we made some for the guests for lunch the next day.



Here are some recipes that I found online for green tomatoes.  Enjoy!

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/fried_green_tomatoes/
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/green_tomato_chutney/
http://www.recipe.com/pickled-green-tomatoes/?rbl=true&ordersrc=googledsa1
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/canning/

No comments:

Post a Comment