Bogus Gold

Kind of overdosed on politics the past week, so no need to hit that well yet again today. Today I'm going to dial back into a topic that unites us (except for the times we have to agree on the toppings for a pizza) - food.

And there is important food news today which you're not going to read in any newspaper: tomato season appears to be over in Minnesota as of this weekend. No I don't mean we have a frost warning... not as far south in the state as the Twin Cities metro anyway. No, I mean this:



You see that extended forecast? You see those high temperatures? Those don't spell the death of tomato plants. But they do spell the death of tomato flavor.

Trust me, I've learned this by experience. One year I was able to keep harvesting tomatoes well into October, as temperatures fell but never quite enough for a killing frost. It wasn't worth it. They tasted pretty much like store bought tomatoes that had seen the inside of a refrigerator by then. All that explosive summer flavor was gone.

So here's my advice for any tomato lovin' Minnesota gardeners. Harvest anything that looks remotely ripe this weekend. Even those that are still a bit under ripe now should ripen up and taste more or less fine indoors.

The more ambitious of you can also harvest any that look fully grown but also fully green. In the past I have ripened these indoors as well. Not quite as full flavored as the vine-ripened ones, but better than store bought.

This year however I have another plan for my green tomatoes. Feel free to forward any special tips toward that plan my way.