And how's Brendan now? That's what's important.
I suspect somewhere you have one of those odd tomatoes that are different colors.
Leave the tomatoes out as long as possible....then pick all and leave them in a single layer and most will ripen.
One year I had sliced garden tomatoes on the table at Thanksgiving....and not Canadian T'Giving!
Fried green tomatoes? Just slice ( there should be no yellow or pink on these!) And dredge in flour, and fry in a mix of butter and oil....salt and pepper and enjoy.
Linda C

I mix equal parts of corn meal and flour, dip the tomatoes in a bowl of milk with one egg (about 1/2 cup milk), dredge in cornmeal/flour mixture and fry in olive oil. Sometimes I add a pinch of cayenne to the dry mix :)

Linda, he's doing well. Thank you for asking! He had his last surgery last week. He still has some double vision and problems with his speech, but he's getting better all the time. Doctors are hoping for a full recovery. If it can be done, he'll do it.

Thanks for the answers. I just can't believe how many of these "cherry tomatoes" there are. Probably a thousand. I was mostly kidding about the fried green tomatoes. I'm hoping to see red soon!

Below is an update on Brendan if anybody is interested.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brendan's progress

Thanks, Ohiomom. We were posting at the same time.

Bob would love them with cayenne. Then again, he loves anything with cayenne.

Glad to hear Brendan is improving.

I agree, I'd leave them on the vines as long as possible. Here's a recipe for those green tomatoes in case you get stuck. I had a recipe for green tomato mincemeat too, but can't find it at the moment. The salsa is great for enchiladas.

Green Salsa

Yield: 5 pints

5 cups chopped green tomatoes
1 1/2 cups seeded, chopped long green chiles
1/2 cup seeded finely chopped jalapeños
4 cups chopped onions
1 cup bottled lemon juice
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp ground cumin*
3 Tbsp oregano leaves *
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and stir frequently over high heat until mixture begins to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Ladle hot salsa into pint jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process in a boiling water canner 15 minutes at 0-1,000 feet altitude; 20 minutes at 1,001-6,000 feet; 25 minutes above 6,000 feet.

Lori, I'm glas to hear that Brendan is continuing to improve, I know he still has a long road ahead. He's always in my prayers.

I agree, leave them on the vines as long as possible, then put them on a table or something in your garage or somewhere protected, a lot will continue to ripen. If you get a light frost, the vines can be covered with plastic or a sheet, then uncovered the next day and that'll buy you a couple of weeks.

I don't know what in the world you have for cherry tomatoes, though! And as for staking tomatoes, I never stake mine, I let them wander, just like you did. And I do it on purpose.

Annie

glad to hear brendan is on teh mend.

one thing you might want to do now is thin out the plants themselves. cut away unnecessary greenery. anything that does not have a flower on it, cut it - this way you will let the sun in .

if it gets to the point where the frost is coming in and you have tomatoes still to green (not the cherry ones) then pick then and wrap in a piece of newspaper and place in a paper bag. check on them often.

what you probably have in your cherries is called a black cherry tomato. the taste very similar to a regular tomato, just a deep almost black colored and they are a very prolific plant. if it matters to you, black cherry is considered an heirloom - so save some seeds.

maryanne

Great news about Brendan. Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

Can you can them?

AM

Glad to hear about Brendan, Lori.

Those cherry tomatoes sound interesting...how are they when ripe? I have a ton of Sweet 100s still coming on. They make a very decent pasta sauce...onions, garlic, whatever vegies I have, some wine and a fistful of Parmesan to thicken. I have some in the dehydrator, too...halved and sprinkled with a little salt and garlic powder and lots of coarse black pepper. Tasty little nibbles.

When we get caught with lots of green tomatoes we strip off the leaves, pull them up, shake the dirt off the roots and hang them upside down. Hung in a cool place, we'll get red tomatoes until Thanksgiving.

Hope someone can help me out, these tomatoes which I get from the personal garden of one of the vendors at our local farmers market are simply the best I have had all season. Are these heirlooms ?

ohiomom - two of the green heirlooms that i am familiar with are tasty evergreen, which usually grows to about a pound per tomato, has a really rich flavor and is one of the tastiest greens i have ever eaten. another is called white beauty and that one is a very meaty tomato with a mild sweetness to it and has minimal seeds.

maryanne

Earthly

These tomatoes ripen to either yellow or red ... they are very meaty. I looked up heirloom and they look like these, but I don't know if that is what they are. I want to save the seeds for a friend and some for myself. We have a courtyard at my apartment building and am hoping the landlord will allow me to put a pot out next year.

Thanks

ohiomom, based on the shape of the tomato alone, those very well may be an heirloom tomato. There are a zillion varieties of heirloom tomatoes, from Cherokee to Brandywine. They are often less "round" than the hybrids that are everywhere, and have distinctive old fashioned tomato flavors.

I always grow a few heirlooms for eating, like Cherokee Purple, the open pollinated Taxi and this year I had a striped tomato, probably Mr. Stripey. They look pretty on a plate sliced up. My canning tomatoes, though, tend to be Rutgers or Bonny Best, old field run tomatoes that bear a lot of uniform fruits, good for eating and for cooking, but not as pretty as the multi-colored varieties.

You can save the seeds from any of the heirloom and open pollinated types and get tomatoes that are true to their type.

Annie

Thanks Annie ... the ones that ripen to yellow are very pale, maybe they are the "white beauty" ? LOL ... can tell I am a city gal huh ?

Well, I will save the seeds once they ripen and we will find out I guess.

Thanks so much for your replies.

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers for Brendan. I've said it before a zillion times, but it is SOOO appreciated.

I haven't been home in two days so I don't know if I've gotten any color on the 'maters.

The good news is that we're having a crazy heat wave. I left this morning at 4:45 and it was 68 degrees! We're lucky to get temps that warm during the day during this time of year.

I had thought about getting rid of some of the greenery, but I didn't know if that would help with insulation.

I wish I could can. One of these days one of my New England forum friends is going to teach me. Robinkate & Lindainct have offered several times, but my schedule always screws things up.

Now I'm looking forward to green salsa, though. I will definitely make a batch of that (in smaller quantities, probably).

Thanks for all the help. Maybe the warm temps and sun will bring some color this weekend.