Did I pluck my Toms too soon?

I am growing 8 tomato plants currently, one of which is the lemon yellow variety. This particular plant has 6 or 7 toms at the bottom near the soil, a few of which have gotten very large, so large in fact that they are somewhat squished inside the metal cage I have that is holding up the plant. They are green and have been really large (baseball size) for weeks it seems. To make room for them all, I reluctantly pulled the largest of the bunch a few days ago and brought it indoors.

My questions are:

1. Should I always let the toms ripen on the vine?
2. Did I make a mistake pulling this one? Will it ripen indoors or have I ruined it?
3. Can I eat it green before it goes bad?

I thought this would be "my year" for toms after last year's poor season, but now I'm finding that these indeterminate plants are more trouble than they are worth. They are HUGE, not growing well in containers, and I feel like it is too late to prune them of suckers. Sigh...

Thoughts? Thanks.

They taste better in my opinion ripened on the vine but you can pick them early. The tips I've learned but not everyone follows: tomatoes shouldn't touch each other, you can lay them in a box one layer, or if you just have one or two you can put each in a paper lunch sack with just a few ventilation holes. The later is suppose to be quicker due to the chemicals tomatoes put off to ripen it's self. Picked tomatoes should not be in direct sunlight. And finally, at the end of the season before your first frost you can pull up the whole plant and hang it up indoors and let the tomatoes ripen on the vine. It's pretty cool to watch.

It's my first year sfg but I've had success with tomatoes before this year.

Most tomatoes for market are picked somewhat green. The chemicals that bananas put off help ripen many different fruit. I have not tried this with tomatoes but you can put fruit into a paper bag with a banana for a bit and the gas the banana skin puts off will encourage the fruit to ripen.

Ever heard of "fried green tomatoes"? They are a treat we know well in the cold PNW. Yum

Lavender, I have heard of fried green tomatoes, but as somebody who has never had them before I mistakenly (it seems) assumed that they ripened to a green color (as my yellow will ripen from green to yellow). You are saying that the fried green tomatoes are fried before they ripen to another color. I was out of the proverbial loop on that one.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. I'm going to fire up my new smoker this weekend and cook some ribs!! Yay me!!

jwbryson wrote: I'm going to fire up my new smoker this weekend and cook some ribs!! Yay me!!

Great now I am hungry! Thanks a lot JB! (wink wink)

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

OH! One more thing....the fried green tomatoes I have had were actually GREEN, as in not ripe yet and the color green....

You can make lots of things out of green tomatoes...I was just reading a canning book last night and there were relishes and all sorts of stuff in there that called for unripe green tomatoes!

Good dinner for you too. My youngest is making all day smoked ribs. I am soaking beans for bacon-dark rum beans. So simple and so yum!

Fried green tomatoes are basically a chicken fried steak with slices of green tomato instead of cube stake.

Dip thick slices of green tomato into egg-milk than into flour-cornmeal-herb blend (garlic salt or that nasty seasoning salt is ok if you like them). You can re dip in egg / flour again if you want.

Fry in grape seed or peanut oil if you are a vegetarian, bacon grease works for meat eaters. Whatever you normally fry in works fine. Like Falafels they are good both hot or cold. Anything you might do with a falafel you can do with a fried green tomato, like put them on a salad, into pita or just make them a side or snack.

Sort of makes a girl wonder why she would bother with a ripe tomato....until I actually have a ripe tomato, than I remember why.

OK, now I want some fried green tomatoes with ranch dip!

Thanks for nothing guys!

OMG!! I'm SOOOOO hungry now!! I love, love, love, fried green tomatoes!! And of course I have none available.

Debs - I'm liking the sound of the "bacon-dark rum beans"! Do you have a recipe that you are willing to share?