Anyone growing Tomatillos?

Is anyone growing these tomatillos? DH wants some tomatillos but I can't find seed for the green ones. If you know where to get the seed for these, please let me know - Thanks. Stacey

Burpee, Territorial, parks all have them as well as totally tomato...

Have fun.

D

Cool Thanks. :)

Welcome, I grow them because we love the salsa so much that I make out of them

D

DH is the house chef and he loves the tomatillo salsa - hence his request for his own plants. Gotta keep the chef happy. :)

I have seeds of Toma Verde from Tomato Growers Supply packed for 2008 and can send you some. Dmail me if you want some.

Twiggybuds - thank you for the offer. I'm sending you dmail.

So, I had rec'd some tomatillo seed in an earlier trade. First time grower here. Any tips?

I haven't grown them yet so I will also be interested in any tips on growing tomatillos.

Grow them like you grow your tomatoes. They are a long season plant here in Maine. They probably will need staking. Mine did.

aardvark7
Have you ever cooked tomatillos?

we grew some and had trouble with pollination, so we took a feather duster to the flowers, it worked great!!

I have never cooked tomatillos. My husband is the chef around here, I do the yard work. Yeah I know we might be a little backward but it works for us. I can make macaroni and cheese and spaghetti with meat balls and a few other things. But if you ever come to our house for dinner, just make sure my husband is planning to do the cooking! LOL

The reason I ask was because the first time I cooked them the pot filled up with foam. It looked like a disk pan full of soap suds. LOL Later I learned that was normal.

When you cook them ~ how do you? and how do you serve them?

I removed the husk, washed them and them cut them into small pieces. Put in a sauce pan, bring to a boil & let simmer for about 2-4 mins. I used them for a Mexican green sauce or dip so I wanted to puree them. I like Cilantro, garlic, onions, jalapeños, cumin and all that good Mexican seasoning to make my dips for chips.

Some receipts for Salsas call for them raw so you may want to experiment.

Jerry

Thanks for that information. I've heard of them fixed raw but not cooked. Glad to know they foam in advance. 8 )

Where I live in Texas, most Mexican restaurants make 2 chip sauces, regular salsa, and "green sauce" which we all love. It is made with Tomatillas. I figured out how they made it and make it at home. Very good! Here is my recipe:

Green Sauce

3 medium avocados
4 large, fresh tomatillos + 3 green tomatoes if available
3 garlic cloves
3 sprigs fresh cilantro
2-3 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1 1/2-2 cups sour cream
1/2 tsp. salt, to taste
Peel avocados and place them in a blender. Remove husks and stems from tomatillos. Place whole tomatillos and chopped green tomato if available in a sauce pan with garlic and jalapeno and 1/4 cup water. Boil 5 minutes or until tomatillos are easily pierced with a fork. Drain the water and allow to cool. Remove from saucepan and place all ingredients in a blender with avocados. Add sour cream and blend until smooth.

Note: You may also substitute by using a jar of tomatillo salsa or salsa Verde instead of tomatillos, and adjust sour cream to suit your taste.


This message was edited Jan 19, 2009 12:59 PM

Hubby is making a different salsa from yours, but yours sounds so good I'm just gonna have to pass it on to him. :) I'll ask him for his recipe and pass it on to you guys tonight after he gets home.

Added to meals, I stir-fry my homegrown tomatillo slices in butter or lard. Also good in salsa if stir-fried first, to the point of browning, before blending with other ingredients.

I think hubby roasts his first over a fire or grill or something when he is preparing them to make salsa.

His recipe sounds great too aardvark7, be sure and post it for us~

OK here is hubby's roasted tomatillo salsa:

Ingredients -
1 small onion, cut into 1/2 inch slices
Extra virgin olive oil
8 medium tomatillos, ~1/2 lb, husked and rinsed
1 medium poblano (you can get experimental here)
1/4 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves and stems
1 medium garlic clove, crushed
1/2 tsp dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Brush oil on onion slices. Grill onion, tomatillos, and chile over direct high heat until lightly charred all over (~6min) turning as needed. Put the onion and tomatillos in a food processor/blender. Allow chile to cool then remove skin and seeds. Add chile to onion and tomatillo, add additional ingredients, and process all until fairly smooth. Adjust seasonings as needed.

This makes around a cup. It is a slightly sweet salsa; if you want more of a kick you can experiment with the peppers and seasonings you add. Hope yall try it and enjoy.

Thanks! I saved this one to try too, sounds great!

I grow the purple ones. I like the flavor more.

i canned a jar but havent used it for anything!
mine reseed here every year next year i will have to save some seeds!

Purple?!? Did someone say Purple? Throw that comment out there and let me catch it! LOL I don't even know what color my seeds are much less how this will taste. Oh, I can't wait for springtime.

Aardvark ~ the "sweet" sounds really good but labor intensive. What time will it be ready? 8 ))

I planted 84 peat pellets of 19 tomato varieties, but not one of them is a tomatillo. All except 17 of the pellets have already pushed up baby tomato plants with more popping out every day.

Now all this discussion about tomatilloes and the green salsas and sauces have made me wish I had planted some tomatillo seeds. Guess I'll just have to try to find some plants at a nursery.

See what y'all did. LOL

Podster, the more dishes my husband can dirty and the bigger the mess in the kitchen, the better (as far as he is concerned). He gets real creative in there and seems to love to make as big a hoopla as possible. BUT I really can't complain about the mess, and if he wants to spend 2 hours making dinner or experimenting with a new labor intensive recipe, well, he is the one making my meals so I'm just gonna let him have his fun! LOL :) Actually, compared to some of his adventures, I don't consider this one labor intensive. Once you grill the stuff it doesn't take long to just throw it in the processor and... viola! Roasted tomatillo salsa. :)

I think creativity usually is messy. But I know you don't mind cleaning up behind him! 8 )

Yes, purple. Tomatillo de milpa grows wild in Mexico. The fruits are smaller than the green Toma Verde, but something about the taste makes for good snacking while harvesting. Here's more about the tomatillo's versatility:

http://www.ladybugletter.com/?p=63

One caution about caring for the plants - The point at which the branches join the stem takes on a lot of stress as the fruits grow larger, and sometimes entire branches will snap off at that joint. I often cut cardboard braces to help support the larger, heavier growth. Be careful not to knock against the branches with tools or too much movement.

no one here liked the taste of the tomatillos!
the neighbor lady(spanish)liked them and was happy
when i brought them over for her!

My plants come up by themselves and grow very well-no staking!
just have no one here that wants to eat them-just the other kinds of mators
but each year i let them grow where ever they spring up :)

Very interesting article on the Tomatillo de milpa.

Thanks

I think they require cross pollination, so make sure you grow more than one.

I read not to stake them so I just let them grow on the ground and flop. Since I started doing this rarely do I suffer broken branches.

Also once planted they will probably reseed themselves they see very prolific.

I grew the purple ones this year they were not exciting. This year it will be Toma Verde and Cissinaros.

To who ever said they just planted tomatoes and they sre all pushing through they would see if they could find plants. There is still time to plant seed. Ernie

When mine flopped, they had more insect damage on the fruits.

Time to plant seed is still months away for me!

What is a Tomatillo? I have always wondered.

Physalis ixocarpa, I think. I have seen it listed as a "mexican ground cherry". That's about all I know, except that it is cultured like a tomato.

Question please? How does one know when these are ripe?

There outside skin will split and they will begin to turn a yellowish color and get softer. BUT THEY CAN BE USED IN VARYING GREEN STAGES JUST WONT BE AS SWEET. Opps sorry to tired to erased and do over.