![]() Consign overripe and rotten tomatillo fruits to your hot compost heap. Harvest all your ripe tomatillos to prevent a forest of self-sown seedlings next year. Store harvested tomatillos in their husks at room temperature for up to a week or in the refrigerator for up to three weeks. If the fruits feel like mini marbles inside loose husks, wait awhile, but harvest before they turn pale yellow, as they become seedier and their flavor loses the desired tanginess as they ripen. Harvest tomatillos when they fill out their husks and the husks just begin to split. ![]() You’ll be preparing your first organic salsa verde about 75 to 100 days after transplanting seedlings. If space is limited, pinch off the growing tips to control spread. Although moderately drought-tolerant, tomatillos do best with an inch or so of water per week. Start by applying 2 to 3 inches of organic mulch, such as grass clippings, to suppress weeds and keep the soil moist. Tomatillos are hugely prolific and produce nonstop until laid low by frost. Two to four plants are sufficient for fresh use Growing Plan to give them support in the form of gardening trellises or tomato cages, unless you want to harvest the ripe fruits off the ground. The indeterminate, sprawling plants grow 3 to 4 feet tall and at least as wide, so space the plants 3 feet apart in rows 3 to 4 feet apart. Tomatillos are much like their nightshade family cousin the tomato, in that the plant sprouts roots along the stems, so it profits from being planted deeply in the garden. Set out at the same time you plant your tomatoes, when all danger of frost is past and the soil is thoroughly warm. Harden off indoor-started plants before transplanting outdoors to the garden. Start tomatillo seeds indoors six to eight weeks before your last frost date. Raised beds work great for the tomatillo plant if your garden has heavy clay soil. Work a couple inches of compost into the soil before planting seeds, and fork deeply to improve drainage. The tomatillo is a lighter feeder than tomatoes, and while they are tough semi-wild plants, they do not fare well in soggy, poorly drained soil. Select a growing area with full sun exposure and well-drained, moderately rich soil. This species is a common field weed grown in Mexico, but the taste is no less delicious. Physalis philadelphica produces sweeter, marble-size purple fruits. Physalis ixocarpa is commonly sold in markets and has large (up to 2 ½-inch-diameter) tart green fruits, which ripen to pale yellow. Today, gardening gurus can grow seeds of varieties from the same two species the Aztecs grew. Native to Mexico and domesticated by the Aztecs around 800 B.C., the tomatillo is one of our most ancient food bearing plants. Dainty paper husks encase the tomatillo, and by late summer, what seems like thousands of fruits dangling from the plant’s branches. Surprise: The essential ingredient in the green salsa recipes of Mexican cuisine is not green tomatoes, but fresh tomatillos - fruit with a citrusy sweet flavor.
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