Tomatillos

Tomatillo

Tomatillos have become one of my favorite things to grow!  Probably four years ago, I took the plunge and tried them without much hope of success.  These are plants of the Southwest and, by all rights, shouldn't do well this far north.  Ha!  They do great!

If you are not familiar with the tomatillo (toe-ma-tea-o) , they are related to tomatoes and are also known as husk tomatoes. 
The fruit looks like a small green tomato with a papery husk covering. Apparently, it was domesticated by the Aztecs by 800 B.C.  Tomatillos are commonly used in green salsas, but are also found in stews, sauces and even jams.  They are high in Vitamins C and K, as well as niacin and potassium. (Nutritional analysis here)

First, the down side...  

• You need two or more plants, for pollination, and a big space.  Mine are in a 4' wide bed spaced at least 3' feet apart.  A 5' wide bed (which doesn't include walking space) with the plants spaced 3' apart is probably better.  

• They attract the Colorado Potato Beetle.  This is not as horrible as it seems, though.  If you grow potatoes, tomatillos are a great catch crop for the beetles.  The tomatillo plants get eaten up (if you don't go out and scrape eggs and larvae off and pop the adults into a jar of soapy water), but mine have consistently recovered and gone on to have loads of fruit.  And the potato plants haven't been touched by beetles.

Now, on to the good parts...

• If you can grow tomatoes, you can grow tomatillos. 
• Tomatillos re-seed themselves, even here in Minnesota.  Just let some of the ripe fruit fall on the ground, which isn't hard.  This could also be listed as a  down-side, but I think it is great!  You do end up weeding out volunteers and transplanting to wherever you actually want them to grow, but it isn't a terrible burden.
• They often produce like fiends.  Not every year, and you need 2 plants (see below), but rewarding enough to keep growing.
• They are pretty low maintenance, once the potato beetles go away (see below). 
• Tomatillo salsa, either plain or with roasted tomatillos, is sublime.  It freezes well and some recipes can be canned.
• The deer and rabbits don't eat them!  Our deer just love the new growth on tomato plants, including the flowers (bad deer), but leave the tomatillos alone.  This is good, since they can then be grown outside the fenced area, leaving more room inside the fence for plants the deer (and rabbits) consider delectable.

Five tomatillo plants.  Note that, even caged, they sprawl into the yard.

The soil and water requirements for growing tomatillos and tomatoes are pretty much the same, with tomatillos maybe being more forgiving.  The plants are 4' or more tall and at least that in width.  Caging or staking is a good idea, since the plant will sprawl everywhere.  The fruit is better if kept off the ground and easier to pick, to boot.   Another benefit of supporting the branches is that they are more brittle than tomatoes and therefore more likely to break under the load of the fruit. 

The fruit itself is a small wonder.  It starts with a yellow, tomato-like flower that turns into a little balloon.   The balloon, or husk, grows rapidly to the size the tomatillo will eventually be, while the fruit grows more slowly.  (See the picture at the top.)  It looks like the plant is instantly covered in full-size fruits, but not so.  If you gently pinch the ballooned husk, it collapses and you can feel the true size of the fruit inside, which is quite small at first.  This is a little disappointing until you get used to it, but they grow fast.

The fruit is ready to pick when it fills and splits the bottom of its husk.  That said, you can pick and use smaller fruit.  We do that when frost is coming, picking all that are bigger than a marble.  The fruit can also be left to turn yellow, which is actually its ripe state.  Ripe tomatillos are sweeter and green ones are tarter.  I like tart ones for salsa and so pick when they are green.

Store tomatillos in their husks until ready to use.  I've stored tomatillos at (cool) room temperature for a couple of weeks and refrigerated for longer.  When the husks are removed, the skin of the fruit is sometimes sticky, but this washes off.  I haven't tried freezing whole tomatillos, but see no reason they wouldn't freeze well for use in salsa or sauces later.
 

Tomatillo fruits, with a peach for size comparison