Sad green tomatoes

Summer is over and normally I would not mind it in the least.  Summer is usually my least favorite season and I'm never too sad to see it go.  This year there is only one exception and that exception is all about MY TOMATOES.  My precious beautiful tomatoes.  SIX bushes of them, all with rotund, robust, GREEN tomatoes all over them.  Green tomatoes which might never turn red. 

You guys!  You have no idea how much I've been looking forward to my heirlooms!  My most gianormous bush is chock full of branch after sprawling branch of brandywines and it makes me cry that the summer wasn't hot enough for me to get to actually EAT them after all that work.  Unless we have a super sunny and hot next few weeks (which is doubtful), my garden is totally screwed.

[cries]

I guess it's time to rehash the big summer list I've been keeping on my sidebar.  We did pretty well slogging through it!

Check out some free movies for families at the local theater.     We did this once and saw a Veggie Tales movie and I realized how impossible it is to take both kids to the show.  Alex is an ANGEL, but Genoa can't sit still that long, not even for a short kid-friendly movie.  Next summer!
Go to the library and then lay on the grass reading books.  Done!
Check out the Farmer's Market in Camas.     Done!  It was sadly tiny and had almost no food.  Too bad! 
Pick our own berries at a local farm.   (NOPE and I really wish we HAD done this!) 
Go to the Zoo.     (NOPE and I really should've gone since I think Genoa would enjoy it.  Maybe this weekend!)
Go to the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science & Industry).  Twice!
Have a tea party on the lawn.  Yeah.  I guess we did this.  We had lunch out there a couple times.
Make slime.     (NOPE)
Make silly puddy.  (NOPE)   
Rent a projector and watch movies in the back yard after dark.  This one turned out to be a huge disappointment!  I was really looking forward to hosting some kind of backyard party and setting up a big sheet screen for the kids to watch movies on after dark.  I had no idea it would be SO expensive and I was even thinking we'd RENT a projector.  The cheapest one I could find was more than $100 per day, plus shipping! 
Take the bus somewhere in town.  Well, I didn't do this, but my mom took Alex to the Discovery Museum on light rail, so that pretty much counts, right?

We also did a bunch of stuff that never made it on the list: we took a trip to California, we had play dates at the park and friends over for dinner.  We had the best 4th of July in the history of fourths of July.  Alex played t-ball and went to Mad Science Camp and Superhero camp and seemingly endless weeks of sports camps.  I feel like we had a pretty good summer.

Comments

[Allison]

You can salvage green tomatoes and ripen them indoors. I would leave them on the vine until you think it will go below freezing at night. Then bring them all in. Wash them in cool water with some vinegar mixed in (to really get the skins clean). Rinse and dry them thoroughly (it's important to be very dry). Then, wrap each tomato individually in newspaper and place in a cool, dark location. They will ripen over the course of the next few weeks. They won't be as delicious as vine-ripened, but they will still taste good! Be sure to check every few days and grab any that are ripe enough to eat before they rot.
And next year, plant early varieties to enjoy ripe tomatoes even in a shorter season (Fourth of July!)

[Sally]

I'll share this family recipe...just because I love you! I craved these like crazy when I was pregnant with Charlie and couldn't find a green tomato anywhere.

Mel's Green Tomato Refigerator Pickles

lots of green pickles, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 whole peeled garlic cloves
1 Tbs pickling spice

Boil 1 quart of water + 1 cup vinegar + 3 Tbs kosher salt.

Slice lots of green tomatoes 1/2 inch thick. Pack tomatoes, garlic and pickling spice into a 2 quart glass screw top jar (or a combination of smaller jars). Pack it really full.

Pour liquid over it, and make sure all the tomatoes are fully submerged. Cool to room temperature.

Refrigerate at least 24 hours. They keep for 2 weeks (or more) in the fridge.

[Tracy]

It's not too late to go pick. Our local berry farms still have raspberries! If nothing else, it's apple time!

[Amber]

Projector? We have a projector...

[Rhi]

You'll love the Oregon Zoo and there is baby elephant now! (Which, I've been dying to see!) If you go this weekend let me know!

[franticallysimple]

It's supposed to be 90 degrees on Saturday so cross your fingers.
And the zoo is no fun in the summer. The animals are all sleepy and it smells. Go in a couple of weeks before the rain sets in.
That's all the bossing I will do today.
:)

[Astarte]

My heirlooms only produced THREE tomatoes this year, and they're all of them still green. In fact, several people whose plants I see on my walks still have greenies, too. Sigh.

[margalit]

Alison is right, you can get your green tomatoes to ripen off the vine. But leave them on the vine until the threat of a frost. Tomatoes are incredibly resiliant plants and they will stay in the ground until a killing frost. YOu probably have another month or two of them. Then once the threat of a big frost is imminent, you can pick the green ones, and place them on a sunny window sill. If you have a lot, you can wrap them in newspaper and put them into a paper bag. They'll ripen and will taste better than store bought.

[Tracy]

Yeah, actually I only got two tomatoes off my heirlooms this year, but I assumed, since it's the first year I've had them, that I did something wrong.

And my good old beefsteak tomatoes tasted just as good...

[Audrey]

I'm right there with you on the tomatoes. I was watering them last night and wondered if there's any point. And, my wonderful pepper plants that took so long to get going and now have lots of flowers and two peppers - will I be able to enjoy the benefits of those? This summer was strange - and seems to have ended early. No good, Pacific Northwest, no good!

[Maria]

Fried Green Tomatoes! Super easy, and tasty. Slice green tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick and get your saute pan going with a light layer of vegetable oil. Quickly dredge the tomato slices through seasoned cornmeal (I just use S&P, and you can always shake that on after if you'd like)and start frying. You only want a very light layer of cornmeal, not batter thick. Flip them when you see the bottom edges get brown, you want them nice and golden on each side and the tomato should be soft but not falling apart. Yum.

[Melissa]

Many libraries will lend projectors. You may have already approached them, but, if not, give them a try.