So not only do I have almost ten pounds of green pear tomatoes, but I have two raised beds that are 1/2 empty. And I haven't decided what, if anything I'm going to plant. It's much too late for most cool-weather crops, but I think I'll put in some more lettuce and spinach in these beds and put plastic covers over the rows since the framework is still up. I could put garlic in there, but I really don't want to dedicate these beds to that.
I'm hoping that we'll (meaning Paul) will put in another two raised beds right behind these so I can make it into my yearly Kitchen Garden. Two, maybe three cherry tomato plants, one or two hot pepper plants and the rest with herbs. I'm much more likely to use the fresh herbs if I can just make a few steps out the front door to cut some basil instead of going to the other side of the yard to the fenced-in garden.
Lazy. You bet'cha. But honest. I get points for that, right?
Oh, and does anyone know what to do with a bunch of green pear tomatoes? Recipes like relish or something? I'm at a loss. Although I did read on a recent blog post (forgot where, of course) that you can put the green tomatoes in a paper bag & they will ripen. So until I find a good green tomato relish recipe, I'll just stick 'em in a paper bag.
In one of my cookbooks (can't remember which one, I have quite a few) it talks about using unripe tomatoes as "apples" to make apple pie. I tried it once with full-sized tomatoes and it was surprisingly not-too-bad. Not excellent, but kind of a good, novelty thing. Maybe you could cut a few of the pear tomatoes in half and give it a try? Just a suggestion.
ReplyDeleteI made Chow Chow last year with my end of season tomatoes. Just Google and you will find a bunch of recipes. We like it with beans and cornbread. Yum Yum !!
ReplyDeleteThey're cute, aren't they? I think you have to reach a point where, fruit-still-on or not, you've just had enough. That's how I felt with my one mega-zucchini plant. And, yes, you get extra points for being honest ;)
ReplyDeleteI have mine wrapped in newspaper and in a brown paper bag. They ripen that way. I see you are south of me. I hate chiggers!!!! Love your blog ;-)
ReplyDeleteI have a bunch in newspaper in a box, too. They do ripen that way, you just have to check the box about once a week and pull out the ripe ones. I actually have two posts up on my blog about it if you want to see them sometime.
ReplyDeleteI did a post for Green Tomato Salsa on my blog on 9/23 that is SOOO good! I used full-size green tomatoes but I don't know why the pear tomatoes wouldn't work!
ReplyDeleteI also like to make chow chow with the end of season tomatoes. I recently read (somewhere out there, I can't remember for the life of me where)that pear tomatoes will ripen in the freezer. I'm going to experiment with that this year.
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