Tomatillos

Last year I posted asking about raising tomatillos. Well, I found seed and I grew many many plants and I planted at least 20 of these in the garden. I harvested my first ones yesterday. I made some salsa verde, at least what I call salsa verde.

I roasted in the oven for 20 minutes a pan of tomatillos. I ground them up in the food processor and added cilantro, fresh squeezed lime juice, anaheim pepper ( mild, not hot), onion, and garlic. We make quesadillas with cheese and this salsa verde. I am going to can a few pints of this.

Tell me what you do with tomatillos.

Sounds good! I thought I what I started from seed were tomatillos. They were called Pineapple Tomatillos. Found out they are not really tomatillos at all, but Cape Gooseberry! A fruit that tastes like pineapple and tomato. Much smaller than your tomatillos. I think I can use them for salsa as well as jam, pies and cakes. I found tons of recipes for real tomatillos on the net. Good cooking!

One year I raised a thing called ground cherries, I wonder how those compare with what you have.

I'm pretty sure they are the same. They're about the size of a small marble or large pea.

Lenjo - I think ground cherries is another name for tomatillos. I planted two this season, and there are so many growing I have no clue what I'm going to do with them all! I am growing them for salsa too. Do you have any other uses for them?

There actually is a true tomatillo called 'Pineapple', but it sounds like celia got a Ground Cherry.

Tomatillos, Ground Cherries and Cape Gooseberries cause a lot of confusion. Each of these belong to a different species of Physalis but all have the husk or "wrapper" around their fruit that looks like a Chinese lantern. The are all sorts of common names names for them like Husk Cherries and Husk Tomatoes that get used for all of, so I'll try to stick to the common names that are most normally accepted for the species.

The large, sprawling tomatillos are generally P. ixocarpa and have the large green to yellow, 1 to 3 inch fruit used in salsas. There is also a smaller, purple-tinged tomatillo, P. philadelphica, also used in salsas, that is favored for having a tangy flavor.

Ground Cherries, P. pruinosa, sprawl like a tomatillo but the plants are much smaller, as are the berries, rarely over 1/2 inch, but bear heavily and make great pies and preserves. These are the ones everyone remebers from their grandna's garden.

Cape Gooseberries, P. peruviana, are more upright, not so wildly branched, and bear sweet, yellow, 1/2 to almost 1 inch fruit that are good for pies and preserves.

Okay, I'm done. I researched the heck out of them one year and couldn't hold it in.

Good information Agrinerd! I definately have P. ixocarpa. They have exceeded the tomato Early girl by height and width and it seems like I have to tie them constantly!