Here is a picture of one day’s harvest of tomatoes, which finally started ripening, (I swear in our neck of the woods it’s a fall crop now). I canned 31 quarts of tomatoes, so far and there will be many more
.
I like to do it this way because I can use them for just about anything, sauces, as an ingredient in a recipe, pepper steak, even soup. I mix all the colors together which I think is very pretty and strengthens the flavors, making it more complex.
Here in the Inland Northwest, our weather is extremely variable.
Here are several ways to motivate your tomatoes to ripen their fruit. Remember that the plants main purpose in life, is to procreate and it panics when you do one or more of the following:
Cut back on watering
Shovel pruning – cut the roots about a foot from the plants on two sides. If it’s really late in the season, do all four sides.
Start picking off extra blossoms. One caveat: if it is a cherry tomato leave them alone since they take very little time to go from blossom to ripe fruit.
Pick off tomatoes that you know aren’t going to have enough time to get big enough. These would be the very large, whopper size tomatoes such as Mortgage Lifter, Aussie, Big Rainbow, Rose etc.
Pinch off growing tips as to focus their attention into ripening what they have
Watch the weather like a hawk protect the plants with row cover, bed sheets, tarps, blankets, anything to keep the frost off the fruit. 
Here we have used blue tarps.
Once frost touches the fruit they will rot rather than ripen.
This what a frost damaged tomato looks like.
Before a hard, plant killing frost, pick all green ones and bring them inside, most will ripen, the rest you can use for fried green tomatoes or a green tomato relish.
I’ve been receiving emails from my customers along with a pictures of some of their tomatoes, asking questions about what is it, what to do about it, etc. I thought I’d share them with you, one at a time, since it’s a good bet that you may be dealing with some of the same issues. This hot weather we’ve been having here in the Pacific Northwest (East of the Cascades), has been making us and our plants a little on the moody side. So here goes…
Customer Question and Picture:
Any idea what this scarring is on the sungold cherty tomatoes. The first couple of weeks of picking was OK but we noticed this several days ago and the scars are spreading to many now. Thanks for your advice.
My Answer:
That looks like sunburn to me. It’s kind of papery, white and then it damages the fruit. If you don’t have enough leaf cover to protect the fruit, try getting some shade cloth or row cover and laying it lightly over the plant.
Sunscald or Sunburn, occurs particulalry during hot, dry weather when the tomatoes (and peppers) are exposed to direct sunlight. It can happen if your plant has sparse foliage, heirloom paste tomates often have sparse foliage or if you have defoliation from leaf spot or blights or you’ve pinched out too many leaves and auxiliary stems. (That is one of the reasons I don’t pinch out the suckers on my plants). Since this is physiological (physical cause) rather than a disease or a fungus,it won’t jump form tomato to tomato. Use a row cover, such as Remay, or shade cloth to cover.
Here are some pictures of my tomatoes, squash and peppers among other things.
These are my compari tomatoes given to me by a customer. Yummy.
A zucchini squash called Eight Ball Forty Niner, both are perfect for pots.
Unripe, Sweet Carernos and Speckled Roman, both striped tomatoes
This is a Giant Marconi that isn’t so giant…yet!
This is Sun Sugar, a golden cherry tomato and Juliet, a grape shaped cherry. These are the first on the plants to ripen. The Sun Suagars are supposed to give Sungolds a run for their money. We will see. The Juliets are terrific, they have a “tomaotey” taste and thicked skin than most other cherries, which makes for a delightful pop when you bite into it. It also means they don’t split their skins when it rains.
My pride and joy, a Hale’s cantaloupe. It’s about the size of a football now and started veining. The first one I gott fruit from. I’m pretty sure it’s because it’s in the greenhouse where is hotter than blazes. That’s also why, there is something thing attacking it besides powdery mildew. Looks like rust. I must do some research on what the problem is.
Vigorous vine produces big bunches of huge pink tomatoes which are oxheart shaped, meaty, and have fantastic flavor. They have a good balance of sweet and acid. The plant is unlike otheroxheart tomatoes, it has sturday foliage, not wispy like some oxhearts. This tomato has several large, large fruits that weren’t yet ripe. I was hoping to take them to the fair last year but they didn’t turn until several days right after the fair. I would have won the largest with one of them, it topped out at over 3 pounds!
Indeterminate
Mid-season
I won the largest tomato of the 2011 Spokane County Fair with this one.
A large leafy heirloom that produces deep, rose-pink, 3″, meaty globes with a taste that rivals those varieties heralded most for their luscious taste.
Seed is from a doctor in PA who got it from one of her Amish patients.
Indeterminate
A favorite
An excellent slicer, with most fruits over 1 pound – many 2 to 3 pounds – and still holds the world record of 7+ pounds for a single fruit! Not in our neck of the woods, probably somewhere south where they have lot sof heat and a way longer growing season.
Produces smooth and solid fruits that seldom crack, with small cavities, nearly solid meat, and excellent flavor.
Developed from Beefsteak after 13 years of careful selection.
A favorite despite the late maturation date. We had loads of them for canning in September.
Simply amazing! These were enormous tomatoes in my garden. Some were so big, you could have used 3 or 4 in one quart jar and a joy to slip the skins for canning.
Good producer of 2 x 3-inch (and bigger), 1 lb., red, paste tomatoes.
Sweet, tangy, meaty fruit. One of the best flavored sauce tomatoes.
Indeterminate
Late season
Specially bred for hanging baskets. Bushy plants look fantastic mixed with lobelia and alyssum. Sweet, bright red fruits. We sell them in the small pots and as baskets. Perfect for someone who wants to hang it on their balcony or patio. Determinate, early
This is a picture of one I had hanging on my patio. It is planted with flowers. Who says veggies can’t be pretty?
Originally from Mexico—and taking its name from a Mexican state—this small, very hot pepper’s a favorite in the South and East, where the plants can grow tall and are covered with the petite light yellow-green to red fruits. Best known as the pepper that lends the kick to the namesake hot sauce from Avery Island, Louisiana.
I know these are yellow…again. We grew these for the first time last year and I was impressed. No cracking, great flavor, decent size. I am beginning ot think I have a an obsession with yellow and gold tomatoes. didn’t set out to do that but when someone asks me my favorites, most of them seem to be that color. In the reds and pinks, my faves are Rose, Mortgage Lifter, Aussie, Willamette, Sweet Treats, Black from Tula and Sub Arctic Plenty to name a few. Ok, so maybe I do like more than the yellows!
An old Great Plains heirloom Produces huge, globe- shaped fruits of a deep orange color, weighing up to 10 oz. each. Vigorous plants yield a heavy, concentrated set of fruit. In the old days The seeds were givento the married couple to help them start their lives and start their farm together.
80 days
Extremely early, and ideal for short-season areas. Plants are particularly well adapted to set blocky fruit even under unfavorable conditions. Deep green fruits become bright red at full maturity.
For more information on these and other varities, check out my website at www.thetomatolady.com
garden and art
sharing my experiments in crafting
Big plans for a small garden
EXPLORING COVETED LITTLE LUXURIES
Experiences in Backyard Biological Gardening
My weekend baking trials, tribulations and some triumphs
Remarkable Beaded Jewelry, Hair Accessories, & More
random thoughts from an eclectic mind
The latest news on WordPress.com and the WordPress community.
Notes From The Tomato Lady 