If you like the taste of store bought tomatoes, which to me, seem bland and nearly tasteless, then you can pick unripe and allow them to ripen elsewhere. I much prefer ripe tomatoes that do it while still on the plants. They don't lose flavor and develop a better taste and color. You can usually tell an off the plant ripened one by cutting it open and seeing the green tint around the seeds. If there are concerns about varable weather and subsequent cracking, you can pick a little earlier, but at mostly red. Here, I don't usually attempt to ripen them off the plants, only because sometimes they spoil instead. If you pick some that are mostly red color but have a slight green or yellow in a patch on the skin, those will eventually ripen a bit more, but still will not be as tasty as ones that are picked when fully red. I don't place mine in sunblight to ripen further, but prefer to place them in a single layer in a big paper bag. Thats when I usually have a big bunch of green ones in late summer when the plants are not putting out much more due to very cool nights. Also, once tomatoes are refrigerated, they tend to lose that delicate flavor of garden fresh.

Thanks! We're picking them mostly ripe, but with green at the top. Mainly because we are trying to get them before the pests and animals do. We live in the country and we've been planting enough for us and them. This year I've been babying those tomatoes because it's our first year having indeterminate plants. Before, we didn't know there was a difference. We're learning :).

When I freeze them, should I take them straight from the counter and not refrigerate them first? I don't know why but after the tops turn red, I've always put them in the fridge, then I freeze or can them a day or two later.

I don't refrigerate at all. I agree that it takes away the fresh taste!!
Weather permitting, I ripen on the vine, pick just before eating! If rain or frost is threatening, I'll pick those that are close and allow to finish ripening on my kitchen table (no sun). As they get ripe, I just wash, remove stems and toss into a plastic bag and into the freezer. Later I can make sauce, or crush into soups, etc.
Easy!!

Deanna

A lot depends on where you live and what the climate is - here we're gardening in a 'Tomato-Challenged' climate zone, already getting night time temps down into the low 40ºs, highs are still in the mid-80's, which, if you're a tomato out on the vine, is the rough equivalent of sleeping in the refrigerator every night. So I have a choice, I can wait patiently - I have 50 odd plants - for the one or two a day that ripen naturally, these ones were green in July and just now starting to ripen, or I pick a bunch, bring them inside to the greenhouse, put them on papered shelves away from direct sunlight, and they'll ripen up in a week. They taste great, and worlds away from any store bought, bred for storage, waxed tomato.

If I just leave them on the vine, what will happen is a 10% harvest and 90% green tomatoes at the first frost, coming up here in 2 - 3 weeks.

Obviously, I don't live in Georgia. :-).

If you are interested in reviewing them, there are several lengthy posts on this question over on the Growing Tomatoes forum here. Those posts explain all about how a tomato ripens (from the inside out), how if left to fully ripen on the outside the inside may already be mushy, and how the fruit is sealed off from the plant once it reaches what is called "blush" or "break" - there are even photos of the various ripening stages.

The general consensus is that since the fruit no longer gets anything from the vine except water (which dilutes the flavor) fruit can quite safely be picked at 'break' or 'turning' stage and left to ripen indoors with no loss of flavor whatsoever. This method of picking eliminates the pest, splitting, and weather damage that can happen if left on the vine.

Dave