Fall Gleaning

 She said, "Pray, let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers." (Ruth 2, 7)

Ma and Laura picked the tomatoes...even the smallest green tomatoes.  There were enough ripe tomatoes to make almost a gallon of preserves...She sliced [the green tomatoes] and cooked them with salt, pepper, vinegar, and spices.  "That's almost two quarts of green tomato pickle.  Even if it's only our first garden on the sod and nothing could grow well, these pickles will be a treat with baked beans this winter," Ma gloated. (The Long Winter)

While at a pumpkin patch with my sons this weekend, I commented to the farm owner that fruit remained on the vine in the tomato patch.  She encouraged me to glean the vines, and I ended up with an unexpected bounty of cherry tomatoes, ripe tomatoes, and green tomatoes.  I slow roasted the grape tomatoes, made American Masala's "better than ketchup" tomato chutney from the ripe tomatoes, and salsa verde from the green tomatoes. 

Subbing green tomatoes for tomatillos has been a game changer for me, as my rural grocery store doesn't always have the latter and I am partial to green salsa.  Do you have a lot of green tomatoes left in your garden? Here are some recipe ideas so they don't go to waste.