|
Post by octave1 on Jul 17, 2018 22:10:51 GMT -5
The variety I am growing is called Grande (or something like that). My question is: when do I pick it? The plants have numerous puffy husks. They are a pale green color, and when I gently squeeze them I can tell there is a round thing inside, about the size of a small cherry tomato but firm, not soft at all. Are they ripe?
|
|
|
Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 18, 2018 0:28:36 GMT -5
I have that one - Rio Grande - and Gigante growing this season. With tomatillos you wait until the husk is pretty much filled, even sort of popping open at the bottom. Even then, they aren't very soft, which is the way you want them - you pick these unripe. Late in the season, they start producing so fast that you can't keep up with them, and they start ripening (turning sort of a yellowish color) much smaller, and I usually stop picking them, and this is why I always have a bunch of volunteers every season! Must be a length of day thing with them, when they do this.
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Jul 18, 2018 8:16:03 GMT -5
I have never grown them but they sound interesting.
|
|
|
Post by octave1 on Jul 18, 2018 8:23:17 GMT -5
brownrexx, I only have 2 plants, but you would not believe the space they take. If I had known, I would have grown them in tomato cages. Right now they are unsupported, and spreading far and wide. I hope they do not end up smothering nearby plants.
|
|
|
Tomatillo
Jul 18, 2018 8:47:32 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 18, 2018 8:47:32 GMT -5
They do get large; this year I planted 2 in a slightly smaller SIP than the 18 gal tubs I plant my tomatoes in, figuring that they wouldn't get as large as the tomatoes, but I'm not sure that was correct, seeing how huge they have gotten. And the stalk of that Gigante plant is about 1 1/2" at the base!
I checked mine this morning, and there are none ready to pick yet, the largest maybe 1".
|
|
|
Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 18, 2018 11:07:40 GMT -5
Here's a photo, showing the two plants in that SIP. Huge amount of foliage, and, while you can't see them entirely, a huge number of fruits, front and back. As you can see, I haven't tied them up for a few days! DSCF0896 by pepperhead212, on Flickr
|
|
|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Jul 18, 2018 13:05:23 GMT -5
You'll be making salsa verde soon! It seems that they like the SIPs just as much as peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes do.
After seeing how huge my plants got this year, I've already decided to grow far fewer plants and use a Texas Tomato Cage to control and support each plant. I think my yield will actually come out much higher because I lost so many blooms and fruit to limb breakage.
|
|
|
Post by paquebot on Jul 18, 2018 22:39:03 GMT -5
In the past, I have grown two green and one purple. None were picked until they swelled big enough to split the husks. Even then they were not always ripe. Sort of took a :squeeze test" to tell if they were fully ripe.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
|
|
|
Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 19, 2018 0:03:11 GMT -5
It seems that they like the SIPs just as much as peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes do. The last two years I grew them in bucket SIPs, and they did very well, but this year was incredible! The Gigante looks very large, but so does the Rio Grande, that is, until they got so overgrown that I really couldn't tell which was which. The last few years I grew the Toma Verde, from Johnny's, and it was the largest tomatillo I had ever grown, and the earliest (I would have harvested some of those by now), but it was sort of determinate, and would stop very early. Last year, I gave it a boost of one of those blooming fertilizers, and got a second harvest, though smaller than the first. I have gotten so many tomatillos since growing in the SIPs that I had to resort to drying them, and it works out pretty well. Norma sized ones I quarter, those large ones I cut in sixths. They reduce to 1.45 oz from a pound, and I use a little more, like 1.6 oz, to make a pound. And I dry toast them in a skillet before rehydrating them, like I do the chiles - gives them a similar flavor to grilling them, which is the other thing I do with them. I rinse the stickiness off, then place them on my gill pan, over med. heat, turning a few times, until soft, and with brown spots. Then I freeze them in 8 and 12 oz portions.
|
|
|
Post by octave1 on Aug 29, 2018 20:23:03 GMT -5
Well my tomatillo plants were loaded and we picked hundreds of ripe fruits. It turns out, the fruits of this variety are really large, larger than some tomatoes. What to do with hundreds of hard, green, tomato-like fruits? I made a sauce following a recipe from the Food Network, but nobody liked it--myself included. So I gave all of the tomatillos away. I also pruned the plants heavily. I'll let it go for a while and try perhaps another recipe, but I don't think I'll ever grow tomatillo again.
|
|
|
Post by ladymarmalade on Aug 29, 2018 21:00:17 GMT -5
Well my tomatillo plants were loaded and we picked hundreds of ripe fruits. It turns out, the fruits of this variety are really large, larger than some tomatoes. What to do with hundreds of hard, green, tomato-like fruits? I made a sauce following a recipe from the Food Network, but nobody liked it--myself included. So I gave all of the tomatillos away. I also pruned the plants heavily. I'll let it go for a while and try perhaps another recipe, but I don't think I'll ever grow tomatillo again. Tomatillo Salsa is my absolute favorite! nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_salsa/tomatillo_green_salsa.html
|
|
|
Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 29, 2018 23:25:25 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Aug 30, 2018 7:30:57 GMT -5
but I don't think I'll ever grow tomatillo again. That is something that I have never grown or even tasted.
|
|
|
Post by octave1 on Aug 30, 2018 9:00:47 GMT -5
Thank you all for the recipes. It is funny to me how many other strong-flavored ingredients (not to mention the amount) one needs to add to make tomatillos palatable.
|
|
|
Post by paquebot on Aug 30, 2018 20:58:30 GMT -5
As several others mentioned, salsa is best use of them. Simply use your favorite salsa recipe and substitute tomatillos for tomatoes. You'll know thar it's different but it's a nice difference. Martin octave1,The truth is more important than the facts.
|
|
|
Post by Gianna on Sept 1, 2018 14:30:17 GMT -5
I'm conflicted with respect to tomatillos. I can grow them and get lots (now that I know some varieties need two), but I've not found a recipe that is better than a fresh tomato salsa. The ones I have made with my own tomatillos have been not worth eating.
Yet I know it can be excellent (no exaggeration) having tasted fresh tomatillo salsa in local Mexican eateries. I just don't know their secret, and I'm not sure I want to spend the time figuring it out.
|
|
Zebi
Junior Member
Posts: 46
Zone:: 6b
Favorite Vegetable:: watermelon
Joined: July 2018
|
Post by Zebi on Nov 29, 2018 1:33:33 GMT -5
I harvest tomatillos one of two ways, usually:
1. When the fruits burst the husk. They're plenty savory and good to eat at this time. If your tomatillos aren't properly nourished, they may never burst the husks, due to undersized fruit (but if you can guess the right time to pick them, they're still good to eat).
2. When they fall off the plants. They're really sweet at this time.
Some people call ground cherries tomatillos, but they're different species in the same genus. Harvest ground cherries *only* after they fall off the plant. Note that the Pineapple tomatillo is a ground cherry (not a tomatillo).
|
|
Zebi
Junior Member
Posts: 46
Zone:: 6b
Favorite Vegetable:: watermelon
Joined: July 2018
|
Post by Zebi on Nov 29, 2018 1:39:46 GMT -5
Gianna , I've heard that salsa verde (green salsa) generally uses tomatillos (not green tomatoes). So, if you search for green salsa recipes, you may find something interesting.
Martha Stewart seemed to use big tomatillos quite a bit in her cooking show on the Create channel. So, I imagine there are some great recipes for non-salsa dishes.
|
|
Zebi
Junior Member
Posts: 46
Zone:: 6b
Favorite Vegetable:: watermelon
Joined: July 2018
|
Post by Zebi on Nov 29, 2018 1:59:21 GMT -5
Gianna , Some tomatillos taste vastly different than others, I've found (Amarylla is a pretty unique one; to me, it tastes like sour watermelon instead of the usual earthy potato-ish lemon-ish flavor). So, trying another variety might be a good idea if nothing else works! The ones in the store are pretty mild (they don't have as much potato-ish flavor as the homegrown ones I've tried).
That link says they're commonly used in chili! I hadn't heard of that, but I like the sound of it.
|
|
|
Post by pepperhead212 on Nov 29, 2018 8:39:43 GMT -5
I'm doing a purple one next season n I've grown one before, and it was a more sour flavor, which I liked, but it was much later, which is why I didn't grow them again. I figure that maybe it is improved, plus, tomatillos seem to be growing much better in the SIPs, so I'll try them again.
|
|