Taking green tomatoes back to UK!

All my hard work on first orto has been rewarded but I have to go back zo the UK on Wednesday and none of my four varieties of tomatoes have ripened but some are huge. Can I cut some on the vine and ripen them on a windowsill? Thanks!

Sounds like a plan rachel68.  Maybe try some on a sunny  windowsill and some inside brown paper bags (think you need to have a ripe tomato in with the green ones though).  Or alternatively try eating some fried green tomatoes.

Well, if flying, is it worth the weight! Have any of them went a paler green yet i.e. about to turn? Might be worth cutting one open and seeing if they are at all starting to ripe. Just put them in the kitchen draw and keep an eye to them in case any rot, but we used to still have toms in December in the UK both from the green house and outside. Obviously they don't taste uite as nice as the deep red you get here, but they are your own!!!  What a shame having to leave them...   

For once I'm flying BA with 2 kids so weight not an issue! The little things in life which are so important....and there's always green tom chutney....that'll be another first!

rachel68 wrote:For once I'm flying BA with 2 kids so weight not an issue! The little things in life which are so important....and there's always  green tom chutney....that'll be another first!

 ... our first toms of the year are always good to have. Fortunately we have a very sheltered south facing steep bank that we managed to get a small flattened area out of and have had toms since June.... Plastic house (pallet covered) for us next year!!!

I had been away from Italy for only four weeks and in that time a tomato plant had grown, initially horizontally, from under the wall around a small lawn. I have build a frame to help it grow upright  and it has about twenty small tomatoes already- amazing how quickly it is growing compared to the one I have had for ages in the UK, where some tomatoes are probably just turning red. I can fully understand you wanting to take green tomatoes back and , as you say, there is always the green tomato chutney if there isn't enough sun to ripen them off.

By this morning I had a sizeable crop of reds and going reds! I'm currently sitting in Fiumicino with a 12 kilo bag of toms, 3 types of basil, melazane, green beans, 4 types of zucchine and torinese strawberries which are the tastiest strawbs I've ever had! My 15 year old daughter hasndisowned me though on the grounds I smell like a greenhouse!

Hilarious!!!

Well done you. Hopefully they will ripen. Apples release the ripening gas - so either somewhere cool in a veg tray with apples or in paper bags or drawers - not on windowsills.  You could always hang them up if you have a suitable space.

Careful with the storage, as Cassini recommends. Don't store anything near bananas or tropical fruit, as this will speed up the ripening effect and will generally spoil the produce. I find that this guide is most helpful Storing fruit and vegetables

Amazing they have 'turned' from green to red in just a day or 2, are you sure 15 yr old daughter has not replaced them with ripe ones from the market.....
Did you ever get your lavender edging the driveway and other plants needed as posted on other site for a good price or did you resort to a delivery from Holland ?  Read lots of your posts on other site with interest....

rachel68 wrote:By this morning I had a sizeable crop of reds and going reds! I'm currently sitting in Fiumicino with a 12 kilo bag of toms, 3 types of basil, melazane, green beans, 4 types of zucchine and torinese strawberries which are the tastiest strawbs I've ever had! My 15 year old daughter hasndisowned me though on the grounds I smell like a greenhouse!

I'm with your 15 year old daughter here rachel68.  Sorry

OH & I would be taking Marlborough Gold cigarettes [€5 against some £8] and J&B whisky [€9 against some £22] back to the UK.  Of course we love tomatoes (green and red), basil, strawberries etc.  But basically we're very bad people!  

Yes Angela....some reds, some oranges and still lots of greens and loads still on the plants which I've told my neighbours to enjoy! Really frustrating that only on our penultimate day did we see the first reds and clearly now there'll be loads....it's been 37º in Lazio! Ghiro....long may differences reign!

Yes Angela....some reds, some oranges and still lots of greens and loads still on the plants which I've told my neighbours to enjoy! Really frustrating that only on our penultimate day did we see the first reds and clearly now there'll be loads....it's been 37º in Lazio! Ghiro....long may differences reign!