Tomatillo harvesting

[jennym]

Variety: De Milpa Purple. First time I've grown these.
They've grown well I think, and I have plants with fruit on but don't know when to harvest. The papery cases are still supple and greenish purple in colour, and some have fruits which are bulging and have split the case, although green in colour. Do I need to wait until the cases go dry like Physalis? What colour do the fruit go? Purple?
I'd be grateful if those of you who have experience in growing these would advise.
Jenny

[jennym]

[simhop]

Hi Jenny
It is my first time with these as well and as far as I can remember from watching HFW on river cottage he harvested them when the cases were still green and the fruits were bulging out of them - I don't think the cases go brown and crispy like physalis but I am no expert. The fruits by the way were green when harvested but this might vary depending on variety.

[MarthaMad]

Definatly harvest them when the cases are still greem.

I left mine 2 weeks and they toppeled over from the sheer weight of the fruit.  But thankfully the stems did not break.

I had a huge harvest waiting for me.. with loads still to come!

Mine seem to be sweeter than other tomatillos that I have had.

[jennym]

OK, thanks both. How do you store and use them?

[Chrissie]

Hi Jenny,

Your post aroused my curiosity so I looked up Tomatillo on Google and came up with this site from Texas which may be helpful:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/vegetables/tomatill.html

Obviously you need good growing conditions in this country so you've done well.

Hope you enjoy your harvest.

Chris

[jennym]

Thanks All. Good info.
In fact they were easy to grow. Just as easy as tomatoes and they seem to be sturdier plants, no pests and diseases to speak of. Grown outside, in dappled shade after starting them off to about 9" high under cover.

[Derekthefox]

I am fascinated, think this may be one for next year . . .

Salsa verde, mmmm

Derekthefox  :D

[RosieM]

In my Mexican cookery book it appears that in most cases we have substituted tomatoes for tomatillos - obviously a case of needs must.

So guacamole should be made with tomatillos - although most commercial ones seem to be avocado only.

So presumably we just substitute back again. ~I'm going to have bash at them next year - I'll beat the blight somehow.

RosieM   :D

[Derekthefox]

I'm with you on this one then Rosie, lost almost all my tomatoes this year, over 40 plants  :'( barely enough left for me alone.
All I need to do now is find out where to buy the seed . . . perhaps a lottie neighbour will have a suitable catalogue.

Derekthefox :D

[Cathy]

I have a similar problem to the original post - my tomatillos are bursting out of their cases and although the varitey is called violet tomatillo, is described on the back of the seed packet as being violet and the fruits are definitely purple in the picture on the front, mine are very green.

They're quite big - the size of a small salad tomato - and the ones I've picked came away in my hand but I don't know if it is safe to eat them - raw or cooked. Or whether they will ripen if I leave them on the windowsill.

I've never seen or tasted them before so it's pretty hard to know if they are ripe...

I'd definitely recommend the plants - great big plants with tiny yellow flowers - they've been the source of much interest to all visitors!

[Columbus]

Hi all,

My tomatillos were small, hard, dark green and too bitter to eat when unripe. The best ones were as big as moneymaker tomatoes, pale green, juicy but firm and tasted of apple when ripe. I ate them raw straight off the plant although they are sticky under the cases or washed and usually cooked at home. I froze them whole after removing the cases and washing. This year I have plants from last years harvested seed, grown completely outdoors but much smaller and with much less fruit.

Theres a pic here and on the next page http://www.malcbro.demon.co.uk/plot0704.htm

Col

[jennym]

Here's a picture of my Tomatillos:

[Derekthefox]

Hmmm looks like you may be the resident expert on Tomatillos then jennym ... :)

Derekthefox :D

[Derekthefox]

Great anyway! In my Kings catalogue, they dont have tomatillo listed but they do have Cape Gooseberry. Is this different, because I am getting slightly confused over the use of the terms tomatillo, cape gooseberry and physalis ...

Derekthefox :D

[jennym]

They are different. The Cape gooseberry (usually Physalis edulis) is a sweet fruit, when ripe it is orange and sits inside a papery case which is loose and dry when the fruit is ripe. Picture here:

[Anne Robertson]

Should I just pick all my tomatillos now that the season is at an end? Some are still very small, only a few actually bursting out of the cases. There are dozens and dozens on the 2 plants.

[Cathy]

I'm about to put several bucketfuls of tomatillo on the compost heap. :'(

They are pale green, many burst out of their cases and the floor is littered with them but they show no sign of turning purple. They eventually go greenish-brown and mouldy!

We contacted the seed company who wrote back to say they've checked and there is no mix-up - they should definitely go purple to be ripe.

I don't want to try eating them as i've read that some purple varieties shouldn't be cooked when still green and don't want to poison my family. It's such a shame because it's a bumper crop...

[Anne Robertson]

I have some ripening on the window sill and some of them are turning purple  :)
The ones still on the plant aren't though.

[Columbus]

Hi all,

The variety I have don`t have the purple patch on the outer case, or any purple veins, the outer cases gradually yellow and dry to pale brown. The fruits ripen to pale green, I`ve eaten loads this year and last year without any ill effects. The crop this year isn`t as good as last and more fruit has split but I think thats because they got little or no tending in the summer.

Col

[jennym]

Out of interest, I'm still picking mine. Grown outside, in the shadow of my fruit cage but still in reasonably good light, they are bulging from the cases, and are patchy purple and green. I guess 2 - 4cm in diameter. Have frozen lots, and intend to make chutney with them when I have the time...