So ... will my tomatoes ripen?

[NotQuiteCockney]

We have approx 7 bazillion tomatoes in the front garden. The yellow cherry tomatoes are doing really well, ripening beautifully, and I'm struggling to keep up.

The red ones are starting to ripen, but not very quickly. Are they going to ripen at all? (We're in London.) Is there anything I can do to make them ripen?

We have some sun today.

I think I may have worked out why I see things about Italian tomatoes so much ... less so Finnish tomatoes.

The poor poor tomatoes - have just ventured out to have a quick rousing chat with my Tumbling Toms. The branches(?) are absolutely groaning with green tomatoes not a red one in sight. The rain has stopped for ooh at least a minute now - have spread them out again (after clustering them together in self preservation in all the wind) to catch any sun ( ) going.

Our yellow ones are cherry toms, and are just perfect, apparently they've been ripening for weeks (we were away), and they just keep producing about a pint of tomatoes per day.

My red ones are starting to ripen on the vine, hurrah! Ate two nice ones at lunch. When they all start properly going, I will be overwhelmed.

What is blight? Is that the stems going black and shrivelly and black streaks appearing on the fruits? I think I know the answer....about half of my tomatoes are affected.

My mum has just made a job lot of green tomato chutney. I'll try and get the recipe from her and post it.

Voila:

Green tomato chutney

Think this one was from the River Cottage book:

Bung all ingredients in together and bring slowly to boil and simmer for about 3 hrs.

1kg marrow or overgrown courgettes, diced (I used courgettes)
1kg green tomatoes (I had to augment with some supermarket toms, it said to peel them but I didn't bother)
500g sultanas or raisins
500g soft brown sugar
500g cooking apples, peeled and diced
400ml white wine vinegar
500g onions chopped
3 chillies chopped finely, optional (I used one)
pinch or two of salt

For the spice bag (square of old tea towel tied with string, I bashed them a bit to release their flavour))

12 cloves
2 teasp coriander seeds
2 teasp black or mixed peppercorns
couple of pieces of fresh ginger

Sterilise jars in oven and allow chutney to cool until warm before filling. Made about 7/8 jars, make sure the lids have a plastic lining as metal will react with vinegar. Should be left to mature for, they say, about 2 months, but sure would be fine before that.

Tomato blight arrived a couple of days ago and all my lovely green tomatoes are dying where they hang.

That's the second yr running. I am definitely not bothering next yr, am sticking to cucumbers and peppers.

I have a glut of cherry tomatoes - kept some outside on the plant, and stripped four plants down. I have put them on a platter and covered it loosely with a lid and left them in the conservatory - they are slowly going red and I seem to get about 5 - 10 ripening a day - jsut enough! Will need to make chutney though with the rest!!!

am in the same position as all of you - just wanted to know are you still watering your plants or just leaving them to wilt and the tomatoes to ripen? Not sure if they still need water?? I have a courtyard garden which somehow is quite warm so they are ripening but too slowly!

How to ripen green tomatoes! Get a brown paper bag, place one red tomato in it, put a pile of green tomatoes in it and they will ripen. HTH's

With the glut of cherry toms, Cut them in half sprinkle salt and lay on a wire rack in a cool (60) oven over night (or warming oven in a Rayburn/Aga) Put in sterilised jars and cover in olive or rapeseed oil. Semi dried cherry toms are £5 a jar. Use in pasta sauces or soups. Could also add garlic and oregano for extra flavour.

To ripen green tomatoes, don't leave them all to rot or get blight. Put them in a paper bag or drawer with a ripe banana or ripe tomatoe. The ripe fruit gives of ethalene (sp?) and ripens the green toms in a couple of days. Works quickest in an enclosed space.

Once the fruit are fully grown and just waiting to ripen, there should be know need to water/feed them. Some gardeners pull up the plants and hang them up in the green house to ripen.

Even if the plant has blight you can salvage the fruit if you pick them now, and do the banana thing. Some of the fruits will still develop brown patches (blight) which you can just cut away and use the rest. Most will ripen fine. Don't leave good green toms on a blighted plant. Remove the fruit and either burn or council compost the infected plant and any infected fruit. Don't put it in your own compost or blight spores will reappear next year.

HTH