They're so delicious green, so why would you even try to ripen them? I make relish, chutney, fried green tomatoes, even green tomato marinara sauce.

I spread them out in a single layer in a shallow cardboard box with a thick layer of newspaper underneath them. They are kept inside (60-70 degrees) and NOT put in the sun. Most ripen well over several weeks. There are usually a few that rot, often very small ones or ones with some damage initially. Check for bad ones a couple times a week...the newspaper helps absorb the mess if you miss one. If I have a lot and want to delay ripening, some will go in the garage where temps are cooler, 40-55 degrees. I bring them in when I want to speed up ripening. Putting a few in a paper bag with a banana or apple can speed ripening, too, though I seldom do this. I have some inside now that were picked in mid October and are now ripe. We have eaten many others that already ripened and thrown out some rotters. There are a few green ones in the garage yet that will come inside soon.

In my rather short summer area I have greenies at the end of every season. When they ripen off the vine later they do not have the great taste of ones from the summer garden, but they are as good as most store bought tomatoes. They are okay for fresh eating and make a great pot of chili!

In my experience, fully green tomatoes usually do eventually turn red (or whatever color they are supposed to be), which doesn't mean they are ripe and taste as good as those left on the vine, but they are edible (just ate my last one a couple weeks ago after a couple weeks of ripening). I keep them all together in a dark paper bag, checking for bad ones frequently.

Of course, there are winter storage tomatoes that are *supposed* to be picked green, and take weeks if not months to fully ripen. I have no first-hand experience growing those, but I understand they don't taste as good.

Like naturegirl I also have short growing season (zone 5a) and have to pick all my tomatoes before first frost, which comes to my area almost always about the 23rd of September. I put the green tomatoes in boxes, cover the fruit with a layer of paper, close the boxes, and keep them in the temperature of about 15 C (about 60 F). They ripen gradually over the period of two months or longer. I check them every few days to see how are they doing and to pick the ripe ones. No problem.

I pulled my plants a couple of weeks ago, and wrapped the greenies in newspaper and put them in a bucket in the pantry. Totally forgot about them til today and unwrapped them to find they had great color (purple cherokes)! A couple were a little shriveled, but will be fine IN something like a sauce.