Yes We have No Tomatoes (tomorrow)

Who was not wowed by this on Sunday?

There is no better testament to local/seasonal than the tomato.

And they are going, going, and perhaps will be gone by the time you read this.

There is a very good chance that it will reach freezing tonight/tomorrow AM. When that happens, all of those tomatoes that bring us so much pleasure, will be, well, as Eat Chicago sez, kaput.

There is still a chance to make it to Green City. They stay open until 1:30. Several farms had tomatoes including Nicholls, Green Acres, Genesis Growers and Kinnickineck (or however it was spelled), but Nicholl's for one, did not think they would have them after today.

Get ye to the market.

I'm stuck in the Garden State so I haven't been monitoring home weather... but are we really going to get a freeze this early? This has been a disastrous late growing season, with too much water and not enough heat. I haven't gotten a single ripe tomatillo yet from the volunteers, and usually they're brimming long before the first frost.

'tillos are even more sensitive to temperature than peppers or tomatoes -- the leaves will all be black overnight.

Global warming, my shiny metal @ss! Throw another log on the fire.

I'm no weatherman (or know which way the wind blows). I'm just passing on what I was told this AM.

Rob

I would think that the tomatoes at the Daley Center market tomorrow should be okay as they're probably picked by now. In any case, I haven't been getting anything but green tomatoes over the last week from my organic box.

aschie30 wrote:I would think that the tomatoes at the Daley Center market tomorrow should be okay as they're probably picked by now. In any case, I haven't been getting anything but green tomatoes over the last week from my organic box.

I'm really hoping to get through this little cold spell in decent shape. I have gotten a few tomatoes that ripened on the vine this week and have a bunch more that are close to being ready for picking. The upcoming warm and sunny spell they're predicting could give me one last, good-sized bunch.

This has been a great year for tomatoes for us, even with the cool and wet weather of late.

Antonius

Mine made it, all the heirlooms are still green, though - I don't know if I should pick them all and make a lot of fried green tomatoes (which isn't really a problem except for the volume) or if there's a chance. Sigh

Hi,

Mhays - you're close enough to the lake to have little to fear or those who are in the warm dome called Chicago. If we get an Indian Summer, which is very likely, the warm days and cool nights will finish ripening those tomatoes.

A friend who volunteers at the Botanic Gardens advised last week they had a light frost in the rose garden. This was a surprise to me because it is close to the lake. I live a few miles north of there and saw no evidence of frost.

I heard 38 degrees tonight, which is a bit chilly for this early.

Regards,