Green Tomatoes

We have sooo many nice big tomatoes that have just started to turn and lots more that are nice and big [and some little] which are only green.  We usually wait to pick them but sometimes a slightly yellowish one [but mostly green] will get picked.  We usually would plop them down on the sunny kitchen sill and give them a couple days to ripen up. But now we have so many... I wondered what could possibly speed up the ripening.  So I googled it and found this hopeful solution.

This is the method I'm trying tonight:                                                                  

Paper bag method - For a few tomatoes


1.Open paper bag and insert ripening banana and amount of tomatoes as will fit.


2.Store in a warm, semi-humid area away from sunlight.


3.This method is useful where you don't have a lot of room and you only have a few tomatoes
 
Also here are some great tips:
 
•The bananas must be "ripening" - they are at their most useful when they are yellow with green on the ends. All ripening fruit produce ethylene, a gas that helps ripen the fruit. Bananas are not the only fruit you can use but they generally produce so much ripening gas in comparison to other fruits that they provide the best "booster" source of ethylene. And, unlike tomatoes, bananas ripen very well after they have been picked.


•Humidity is also an important factor for indoor ripening. Too much humidity can encourage rotting (and the dreaded fruit flies); too little humidity and you might end up with dehydrated tomatoes. Keep a close eye on their progress and adjust things as you see fit.

•For the best flavour, eat the tomatoes as soon as they have ripened. They will gradually lose their flavour after about one week of storage in the refrigerator.

•This makes a great science experiment for kids as well. It is another way to enthuse them with the joys of harvesting from one's own garden.