I’m a 6th generation California organic grower.  My Great Great Great Grandfather Addison J. Bump, planted one of the very first orange groves in Calif. in the mid 1800s.

Here’s something I learned from his great granddaughter my great grama Maggie.  Don’t throw out the vines that still have tomatoes.  Instead hang them on the rafters of the barn (garage) in a place that they won’t freeze and they will keep ripening.  They can be eaten, dried, or canned as you have enough for a batch.

I learned about ten years ago that you can also store them in bins or buckets off the vine.  Clip the stem leaving the stepal (the little green star at the attachment on the tomato) but not any stem (it will poke holes as the tomatoes ripen) and put them all together in the bucket.  Black plastic tree pots work great because of the holes in the bottom that allows some circulation.

Be sure to go through them often and see how they are doing.  Pick out and keep the ripening ones toward the top so they don’t get squished. These aren’t good for fresh eating but make great sauce or pickle relish which I will talk about next week.

Grama Maggie had a method to her madness as well as a great green tomato relish recipe.  To be continued next week ...

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