Cathy Isom gives you some great tips about growing your own tomatillos. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Tomatillos look like small green tomatoes, and do belong to the same nightshade family, but they’re slightly different plants. An unripe green tomato, for instance, isn’t the same thing as a tomatillo.
Tomatillos don’t turn red and are covered in a husk. They’re perfect in salsa, and also used in recipes such as posole, green chile, and enchilada sauce.
Growing your own is possible and similar to growing tomatoes, except for some critical differences. For instance, you’ll need to plant more than one tomatillo plant in your garden since it’s not self-pollinating. Don’t worry, if you’re saving seeds, the tomatillo will not cross-pollinate with your tomato plants. Space them out, about 18-24 inches in between one another, with 36-48 inches between rows. Tomatillos will need full sun, at least 8 hour per day.
It’s time to harvest these green tomato-cousins once they’ve almost burst from their husks and the husks dry out, usually 60-80 days after transplanting. Don’t wait too long, the flavor changes if the fruit is overripe.
I’m Cathy Isom…