I recall eating garden fresh ripe tomatoes at Thanksgiving and Christmas. There is a 50% probability that Chapin’s first frost will be November 8. There is a 99% probability that the first frost date for the Columbia, SC area will be in November. Check the Farmers’ Almanac and listen to your local weather reporter for the arrival of Jack Frost.
Do not allow your late bumper crop of green tomatoes to freeze on the vines. Pick all green tomatoes. Gather shallow cardboard boxes and line with newspaper. Fill with green tomatoes and crisscross stack the boxes to provide air circulation. Leave air space around each tomato, so they do not touch. Place them stem side up so they are in the same position as they were when hanging on the vines. In the very top box place an apple or a banana in the box. Cover this top box of tomatoes with another layer of newspaper. Ethylene gas is released by the repining fruit will speed up the ripening of the tomatoes.
