this has been a bad year for tomatoes in NE PA....we had way too much rain.......we also have yellow leaves on the very bottom.....I did trim some and not all.....I did clean the clippers before and after with alcohol. did not seem to make a different....we have so many green tomatoes. I know that they are going to ripen at the same time and I will be peeling skins and freezing them. My family used to make tomatoe jam.....it tastes like cherry jam....also homemade catsup..........