Phyllis Hobson - 52 great green tomato recipes: storeys country wisdom bulletin a-24

by Phyllis Hobson

If youre like most of us, you reserve a fair amount of space in your garden for everyones favorite crop tomatoes. You make the most of their short summer season, eating them fresh and warm from the sun, slicing them for the table, canning them for next winters casseroles. You know theres nothing better than vine-ripened tomatoes from your own garden.

And, like the rest of us, you dread that first fall frost because it means the end of the fresh tomato season. One of the most frost-tender of the garden plants, tomato vines may shrivel and die after even a light frost. An early September cold spell is especially frustrating because it may halt the ripening process or even kill the plant just when its crop is most abundant.

But you neednt lose the largest part of your tomato crop come fall. A frost neednt mean the end of fresh, red-ripe tomatoes for your dinner table. There are ways to ward off the damage of early, light frosts and even ways to thwart the late, hard frosts. And once they do take over, there are at least 50 ways to make delicious use of those green tomatoes youve picked from the vines.

First, though, you need to know when a frost is coming. During the last month of summer, the month before the usual first frost in your area, look for natures first warning signals a late afternoon nip in the air and a cloudless sky with no wind. If you arent that attuned to weather signs, you can listen to your local weather reports. The evening radio or television news will warn you of any possibility of frost. If you are alerted by any of these warnings, head for the garden at sundown. A few minutes work now can save your tomatoes.

First, pick and refrigerate all the ripened tomatoes. If some are almost ripe, take them inside to ripen.

Now, cover the tomato vines with something lightweight for protection. You probably have something around the house old bed sheets, light blankets, rolls of plastic sheeting, newspapers almost anything that will keep the frost from the plants without breaking the vines. You neednt worry too much about tying them down. If theres enough wind to blow the coverings off, theres no danger of frost.

If its late in the season, you may need to cover the plants each night for a while, until the weather warms up again. Be sure to uncover them each morning so they can benefit from the sun during the day.

If, in spite of your watchfulness, a light frost catches you unaware, dont give up. Very early the next morning, before the sun hits the frost-nipped tomato vines, get out the garden hose and spray the leaves thoroughly with cold water. If you act quickly enough and water them well enough, you may be able to prevent any damage from a light frost. Even if some damage is done by a heavier frost, you may be able to save some of the plants.

If fall weather is consistently cold and frosts are a nightly occurrence in your area, you may want to prolong the tomato season by constructing a mini-greenhouse right in your garden over the tomato vines. Such a greenhouse arrangement may be as elaborate as you want to make it, but a simple, yet inexpensive and very effective protection may be made with a few short posts, some used lumber and a roll of clear plastic sheeting.

To make it, drive the posts in the ground on each side close to the tomato vines. The top of the posts should just clear the top of the vines. Set the posts down the length of the garden four, six or eight feet apart, depending on the length of your used lumber. Then nail the boards from post to post to make a rough framework just wide enough and tall enough to cover the vines. Cover the framework with the plastic sheeting and fasten it with boards nailed on top of the framework.

Leave the plastic sheeting hanging loose down the sides. It may be weighted down with soil or stones on cold nights or raised for ventilation on warm days. It also may be raised at dinnertime to harvest the crop of tomatoes that will go right on ripening inside their warm, frost-free garden-row greenhouse.

No matter how you try to thwart him, though, if you live in almost any part of the northern hemisphere, you know Jack Frost is going to win eventually. He may come in September in the north or in November in the south, but sooner or later hes going to get your tomato vines.

But you dont have to let him have the tomatoes. If the weather has been warm, chances are that at least half of your crop, ranging from the dark green, marble-sized cherry tomatoes to the big, full-size partly-pink Big Boys, still are on the vines at frost time. Every one of them can be a delicious, nutritious addition to your fall and winter meals if you know what to do with them.

First, lets take care of those that will ripen. Lets say winter is looming ahead in earnest now. Youve successfully nursed your tomato vines through the first light frosts of fall, but now heavy frosts are forecast and the temperature may drop below freezing during the night. Its clear that the days of vine-ripened tomatoes are over. Its time to bring your tomatoes in from the garden.

That doesnt mean the days of red, ripe tomatoes are over. You can ripen them indoors and enjoy homegrown, ripe tomatoes for several weeks. Its true that they arent quite as flavorful or as rich in Vitamin C as your summer tomatoes were, but theyre a lot better and a lot less expensive than the supermarket variety.

As you look over your soon-to-be-frost-killed plants in the garden, first select those tomatoes that will be taken in to ripen indoors. The best candidates are the pink ones and larger, lighter-colored green tomatoes that have a whitish tint or glistening skins. As you go down the rows, pick off all the rest the dark green ones and set them inside in baskets or pans. Theyll keep well at least a week in a cool place and youll need them for the green tomato recipes well talk about later. For now, leave the larger, to-be-ripened tomatoes on the vines.

If you have an out-of-the-way basement or garage that you dont mind getting a little dirty, your work is almost over. You can simply pull up the tomato vines complete with the lighter-colored tomatoes on them and hang them upside down where the temperature is 55 to 65F. Then all you have to do is pluck off the tomatoes as they ripen. Of course youll have to clean up the dirt and tomato vine debris later.

A neater but just as satisfactory way to ripen green tomatoes over a period of six to eight weeks is to pick the larger tomatoes that have begun to ripen and spread them out on trays or shelves (but not on a dirt floor) in a cool, dark place, such as a fruit cellar. Use the tomatoes as they ripen. If you need a few extra for company, take them out a day or two ahead and place them on the windowsill to ripen in the sun.

If you dont have that much shelf space, wrap each tomato individually in a scrap of newspaper, then place the wrapped tomatoes, no more than two or three layers deep, in open crates or baskets. Store in a dark, cool place.

Or you may prefer this simpler, less-work version of the wrapping method. Just spread the tomatoes out one layer deep on a table and cover with newspapers or a cloth.

With all four methods, its important to remember that ripe tomatoes are perishable. Check the ripening tomatoes every day (yes, even the newspaper-wrapped ones) and store any red ones in the refrigerator. A few will rot without ripening, but with careful tending and optimum storage temperatures, you could have fresh ripe tomatoes from your garden for Thanksgiving or even Christmas dinner.

With all the large tomatoes tucked away to ripen, its time to turn our attention to those baskets of small tomatoes you set aside. Its possible to can, freeze or dry them for winter meals. They can be pickled and preserved in the old ways, just as your grandmother used them, or they can be used in main dishes, salads and desserts in some new ways that even grandmother never thought of. In addition, many of the main dishes and desserts may be made up and stored in the freezer for leaner days.