#ripening tomatoes

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

oooooh it's starting!

[inthecityofgoodabode]

2020: First Tomatoes Harvested

This Lemon Boy is almost completely ripened. Something had knocked it off the plant about five days or so ago while it was still green so we brought it in to ripen on the counter. If we had wanted it to ripen quicker, we could have put it in a paper sack. You can also add an apple to the sack and the gas it gives off will accelerate ripening even further (That’s why it is a good idea to keep apples stored away from other fruits especially those that ripen quickly like bananas.).

The top tomato is a Cherokee Purple that is just starting to blush. I found the green Better Bush laying in the pot: 

This is why. The stem is practically eaten away. That brown stuff is what some gardeners call frass but I call it caterpillar shit. I couldn’t find the caterpillar so I hope a bird ate it. I washed it off and we’ll see if it ripens before it rots: 

I found another damaged tomato in another pot. This one is a Phoenix. You’ll note the bite marks are sharp with a lot right angles compared to the crescent shaped caterpillar bites in the photo above so this is probably squirrel or rat damage. I washed it off too. Worst comes to worst, it can go to the compost bin: 

[intoxicatedfandom]