Something that probably works, Karen! Let me tell what doesn't work for me: A lot of people wrap their tomatoes in newspaper. When I've tried that, I've ended up with lots of rotten tomatoes! I forget to unwrap and look. Instead, I do the very simple thing of putting them in a basket and "sorting thru" them every few days. Moving from 1 container to another gives me a chance to separate out the ripe ones. This year's tomatoes lingered on the vines longer than most years. Many, many green cherries went down before the onslaught of Jack Frost but few of the larger varieties. Got lucky with warm weather up here near the border. I know that we all like to test the climate envelop with late-developing varieties but there's some real value in the early-ripening indeterminates. Bloody Butchers came back later and so did Early Girls. I almost hate to admit but will do so here: I still grow Early Girl and have for over 20 years . . . Just a timid tomato grower, I guess. Luckily, there are those who encourage me with appropriate choices for my garden that would otherwise go unimagined. Steve

I brought in some huge tomatoes that have begun to turn color and am wondering if they'll ripen faster if placed together in a bag? Do they emit ethylene gas? I know an apple is recommended for speeding up tomato ripening, but will tomatoes ripen faster in a bag than if just placed on the counter? ****** Production of ethylene gas is part of the normal ripening process of tomatoes. But they don't spew it outside the fruits in large amnounts. Here's the way I see it. All winter long I have to look at those anemic ethylene gassed tomatoes shipped in and I'll be darned if I'm going to put tomatoes in a bag to trap that gas to hasten ripening or drop in some cut apple pieces to up the level of that gas. I'll take my summer tomatoes as they ripen with the normal physiological amounts of ethylene gas that they're GENETICALLY programmed to produce. LOL Carolyn

Green Tomato Hot Dog Relish Flavorful green tomato relish is the perfect relish for hot dogs and hamburgers, or stir some into your dressing for pasta or potato salad. Ingredients: •8 cups finely chopped (processed or ground) cored green tomatoes •2 cups finely chopped (processed or ground) peeled onions •4 bell peppers, part red, finely chopped (processed or ground) •1/3 cup pickling salt •2 tablespoons mixed pickling spices •1/2 teaspoon celery seed •1 clove garlic, chopped •2 1/4 cups white vinegar •1 2/3 cups packed light brown sugar Preparation: Combine the chopped vegetables and salt in a large stainless steel pan. Cover and let stand in a cool place (about 65° tF to 70° F) for 10 to 12 hours, or overnight. Pour the vegetables in a colander over the sink and let drain. Rinse with cool water and use your hands to squeeze out any excess liquids. Tie the pickling spices and celery seeds in a cheesecloth spice bag. In a large stainless steel or enamel-lined pan, combine the vinegar, the spice bag, chopped garlic, and the vinegar. Put the vinegar mixture over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add the drained green tomato mixture and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and boil gently, stirring often, for 1 hour. While the mixture is cooking, prepare the work area, canner, jars, and lids. See Preparing Jars for Canning and Boiling Water Processing. Fill hot, prepared jars and remove any air bubbles with a small plastic spatula, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Clean jar rims and fit with lids and rings. Process in a covered boiling-water bath canner for 10 minutes. Turn off heat, remove the cover, and let jars stand in the hot water for 5 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool completely. Makes about 7 half-pint jars of relish. http://southernfood.about.com/od/picklesrelishes/r/r90712a.htm

I've had room temperature peppers (most of those I've tried) keep for months. :) They spoil faster in the refrigerator at my house (if they're piled too high they might keep longer in the refrigerator, though, since that encourages mold easily outside the refrigerator). Ripe tomatoes, on the other hand, are another story here (if refrigerated after ripening, they'll keep for a long time, but left out after ripening, they more often tend to ferment pretty fast, or go bad—within a couple days to a couple weeks, usually). I've rarely had peppers being stored indoors at room temperature get soft when the spoil. If anything, the normal tendency seems to be that they mold on the inside (starting with the seeds and pith). I don't recall seeing any anthracnose afflict peppers stored at room temperature at my house (but I have seen it commonly afflict refrigerator peppers; I've seen it commonly afflict tomatoes whether refrigerated or not, but it can take longer to afflict refrigerated tomatoes, it seems). My area is semi-arid, though. I can't speak for peppers in someone's house in a humid area where fungal pathogens might be more rampant. I have found that thick-skinned peppers without calyxes are more prone to molding than thin-skinned peppers, if left out too long (but you can still leave them out for a really long time). I've stored many green peppers and many already ripe peppers this way (including those bought from the grocery store). Grocery store peppers perhaps tend to keep about the same length of time whether they're in or out of the refrigerator, but they definitely taste different depending on how you store them; I think they develop more sugar over time if they're not refrigerated (and they don't get those weird lines or dents in them that come with refrigeration). If you're really worried about how long they'll keep outside the refrigerator, store them sparsely in brown paper bags and/or have a fan going. (I don't recommend relying on central air or such ventilation for a fan; in my experience, I'm not sure that it helps much, if at all.) Anyway, for thin-skinned peppers, you can generally expect them to dry before they'll go bad, if kept outside the refrigerator, as long as you don't pile them, and maybe even if you do, if you don't pile too high (I don't think they'd dry in the refrigerator, though). A lot of people dry peppers in brown paper bags (at room temperature). I dry seeds that way, too (empty herbal tea bags that you're supposed to fill yourself are also great for drying seeds). I do make sure to wash and dry peppers before storing them at room temperature (although I'm not sure if it makes a difference). I've never heard of the pepper in an air-tight bag, until here, either. I would have thought it would mold, too, but it's probably worth a try to see what happens. It might depend on how thick the walls are, and the moisture of the pepper.