Plum Tomato Plant – Making Them Last

Q: Our plum tomato plant is still going strong, with thirty eight tomatoes still on the vine, from dime-sized to full grown. The majority of them are mature sized but have been green for about three weeks. What can I do to keep them?

A: My mother was very proud of herself last November when she shared with me a way of keeping her tomatoes for several weeks after a freeze. She simply waited until frost was forecast at her house, then pulled all of her tomato vines and draped them haphazardly over coat hangers she’d hung near a sunny window in her garage. She reported that the fruit ripened gradually, she harvested them as needed, and was enjoying her tomatoes way past Thanksgiving!