I vote with Pete as I'm competing with early blight here. The random heavy rains aren't helping, and I've lost large maters to awful splitting from the deluges. Right now I'm managing to stay just ahead of the early blight....but I think the plants are about done producing anyway. It's too hot and the blooms are dropping off. I also pick mine when they blush and let them ripen in a window. The mockingbird sits on the kids' swingset (about ten feet from my raised bed) and watches for a ripe one. I also have a possum scratching around in the middle of the night...and he apparently likes to eat jalapenos. I have only gotten one out of three or four. Who knew? Growing tomatoes down here is a race to the finish...I'm lucky to get this many tomatoes before tragedy strikes. I'm still hoping to stay ahead of blight and maybe be able to baby them through to August and see if I can't get a few more in the fall. Either that or I will get tired of sick and gross looking plants and pull them and baby the basil instead. :-)

Ripening of tomato and some other fruits AFTER MATURITY is an internal biochemical process in the fruits. Have you left almost green starchy banana on the counter for a while? they will taste sweet. The sugar was produced inside the banana. How about pears ? Hove you left them in the basket when were hard and tasteless and after a while they soften and become sweet and juicy ? Have you left some Jalapeno or Serrano pepper , with tiny bit of color suggestion and after a while find them scarlet red? I have done that many many times, The bottom line: certain fruits ripen without assistance from the plant. The key is MATURITY. In tomato it is the start of color break. Sey

Hoosier covered several of the problems including the fruit left on the vine too long. I also see some anthracnose and sour rot. Also some possible Alternaria Canker but no close up to be sure. Research these on the web to learn all about controls and preventing them next year. Also contact your local county extension for info on which diseases are common in your area and treatment tips. Bottom line - you have at least a couple if not more, fungal infections going in the patch. The only solution at this late date is to try to slow it down with fungicide sprays like Daconil - multiple applications. It won't cure the problems but will slow it down. I know on another thread you posted you were opposed to anti-fungal sprays but they are your only real option now I fear and not nearly as hazardous as you think. Otherwise, about all you can do is pick your fruit just as soon as it shows the slightest color and ripen it inside, thin out the patch with some pruning of all the diseased material to improve air circulation, eliminate any sprinkler watering, and hope. Just my 2 cents. Next year, a much bigger patch or a lot less plants ;), much soil improvement, and lots and lots of mulch. Hope this helps. Dave

There are only so many uses for green tomatoes and I believe that unless you like the end product you are better to not waste time preparing large quantities of it. I decided this morning to compost over 10 bu. of larger green tomatoes which I had picked prior to the freeze and the last farmers' markets I attended. Eventually they all rot if just held in storage and even those that turn color lack the flavor of a vine ripened tomato. I still have a few bu. of colored tomatoes but what I envision is a weekly sorting routine to toss the decaying fruits and in the end we will have eaten a dozen or less tomatoes. My vote and my quest is for the vine ripened tomatoes next May. I believe the overwhelming majority of my tomato customers feel the same.