This is what we want!

Autumn seems to have arrived here in west Wales – it’s not cold, but it’s foggy and raining. The garden is still productive: I picked a couple more courgettes the yesterday and we have fresh peppers for our pizza this evening. However, the change in weather does herald the beginning of the end of the summer vegetables.

This year the tomato plants have produced abundantly, but most of the fruit have not yet ripened up. I know that people will tell me to make green tomato chutney but if I did it would never get eaten… we are not fans of chutney or pickles. What I want is a big heap of ripe tomatoes so that I can make some more passata.

So, once the temperature drops and the days get shorter, I will pick all of my tomatoes, irrespective of colour, and place them gently in a cardboard box with an apple. I will close the lid and I’ll put them somewhere out of the way. The apple will produce ethylene, the chemical that encourages fruit to ripen, and the tomatoes will change colour. I will check them every few days, remove the ripe ones and put those to one side ready for use in the kitchen. It’s magic!