Hello Again!

A new day and a new post. Though really with everything we have done so far we are still catching up.

Today is a day for tomatoes! And though it is cold, gray, and wet here (which for some reason solicits spandex on fellow bicycle commuters) tomatoes can still be yummy. At the Learning Garden Labs, up in Brentwood-Darlington, volunteers pulled out approximately 100lbs. worth of unripened green tomatoes. The plants are all gone but their fruits remain, albeit tart, vaguely poisonous, and mostly immature (they all still believe in the Tooth Fairy, bless their hearts).

Things to do then: 1. For mature but green tomatoes harvest with at least one inch of stem still attached. Place in a paper sack and wait and pray. If they are not fully mature they probably will not ripened. A banana placed in the sack may aid ripening due to its natural emissions of ethelyne gas (also why not store fruits and vegetables all mixed up). A fully mature tomato when cut in half has the jelly surruonding the seeds, and should be yellowing.
2. Compost them. Waste not want not, but at least you can recycle the nutrients. Most of the seeds should not be fully matured and so probably will not germinate in a cold compost pile. Obviously a hot compost will sterlize the seeds regardless.
3. Various green tomato recipies. Today in the Oregonian there was a recipe for Veggie Enchiladas with Green Tomato Sauce. I will be making this you can betcha.
4. I imagine you can can them. I have not read anything about this, but you know why not?

5. FRIED GREEN TOMATOES...
*nom nom nom* My preferred option. After talking with a friend from the South here is a recipe.

Ingredients
Green Tomatoes (Variety is not important)
Buttermilk
Corn Meal
Flour
Coarsely Ground Black Pepper

Slice tomatoes in 1/2in. slices. Mix a little bit of flour into the cornmeal with black pepper to taste. Batter by placing tomatoes first into buttermilk, then into cornmeal mixture. Fry until golden brown on top. Enjoy plain. Or with Ketchup (I am biased here). Or with anything else. Really its up to.


And that is how you don't waste your precious green tomato gold.

~Flora