Originally Posted by carolaug
We do not get tomatoes until the end of August and Sept.
ditto here.
A good tip I learned is that when the tomatos start ripening, and the plants are still making blossoms and little tomatos, you have to shock the plant into getting busy to RIPEN the fruit that is on there. No, don't moon it!! Either grab the main stem and give it a firm twist, or take a long knife and cut the roots about 3-4 " from stem, straight down into the soil, most of the way around the plant.
This gets more ripened before the frost, but you probably don't have to worry about that in NC, I am jealous....