Belle Parsons' recipe for pickled green tomatoes incorporated the basic ingredients for this canning staple. In this instance, green tomatoes are unripe tomatoes. While green varieties of tomatoes exist, using unripe tomatoes is preferred for such recipes, as unripe tomatoes are firm and retain shape.

Mrs. Parsons added a few notes about her preferences, such as using smaller tomatoes and not using the the skin. Isabel "Belle" Bixby Parsons (1844-1912) of Norridgewock was the second wife of Dr. David Parsons, a noted Kennebec County physician.