Tomatillo Verde

I was surprised how prolific these were. I grew several of these in a 4 x 4 raised bed with onions and various greens. I had so many fruits that I had to freeze them. Each week starting in July I’d get a basketful.

I was not expecting a large bounty of tomatillos this far north but was beyond surprised that I was cursing them by the end of the growing season. They were literally growing faster than I could pick them. I had to give pounds and pounds of them away to friends and husband's co-workers who now want to grow their own. Thank you Baker Creek for offering your stellar products!

planted the seeds a few months ago and the plants are doing well (2 greens planted and 2 purples planted). they are growing quite quickly. no tomatoes yet but sure they will begin soon.

I planted 5 of these tomatillo plants next to each other with varied result. (You need more than one plant because they don't self pollinate) First off, around here, there aren't many insects that like these things so when I started getting fruit, they were unblemished. Two plants started turning yellow and the husks started turning pale then brown before the fruit even formed. The other plants took off and I pick ripe tomatillos almost daily. One plant has oval shaped husks and another has husks with purple veins. They are very unique but the fruit is consistently good. I like to pick some as soon as the husks split for a tart flavor and some when the husks turn brown for a sweeter flavor.

Last year I grew 2 plants each of the purple and green varieties. Like another reviewer I found that all the fruit turned green. While the plants were all quite prolific and quickly took over the garden space they were allotted (and then some), the fruit never grew bigger than about cherry-sized. I suspect it was due to the dry summer combined with being in raised beds. This year, the entire 4'x8' raised bed and almost two feet around it was full of seedlings. I gave away several plants and am excited at how much hardier this year's plants are. Fruit is just showing up, so I don't know how large they will grow, but it looks pretty promising.