How a tomatillo grows

I don't know exactly how a tomatillo grows, but I have some observations. I started seed for purple de milpa tomatillos April 22. They sprouted April 26 after getting some extra warmth near the heat register. The tomatillo was planted out June 21 and tiny closed calyxes started to come on.

Soon, the plant produced a surfeit of yellow flowers with hazy purplish centers that attracted lots of bees. As the flowers faded, the calyxes seemed to continue to grow, enveloping the flower and making a husk that looks like a pretty paper lantern. If you peak into the star-shaped opening, you can see the little tomatillo forming. The ones in my backyard grew pretty slowly due to the cool weather.

At full size, the fruit fits tightly in the lantern and begins to bust out a little. Exposure to sun turns this variety's skin purple. The secret pleasure of tomatillos is to peel back the husk and find the little flower inside, now dried. Sometimes the fruit just barrels through the flower and the petals get stuck to the resinous skin.

Tomatillos keep relatively well. They are firm and surprisingly cold hardy outside. We've been eating them here and there since September, but tonight we made a bigger harvest into some delicious salsa. We toasted the tomatillos along with some garlic and home-grown jalapenos on a comal on the stove. We ate it with some quesdillas stuffed with manchengo, cheddar and sauteed onions and home-grown bell peppers. Also, we ate rice cooked with some leftover salsa from a local restaurant.

Good dinner.

Growing notes: This year, my main plant grew in the trellis planter box. Tomatillos are sprawling so I hoped to train the plant and keep things tidy. It grew too quickly for this and seemed to have a hard time fitting into the narrow space.

Next year, I am planning to give the plant more space in the base part of the L-shaped raised bed. It will be able to get tall and not block out sun for other plants and it will be able to spread out much more. I had a second tomatillo plant in this area this year — one that was a back-up but I just decided to put it in the ground later in the season. The lanterns grew much bigger but not quick enough to get much fruit by the time the frost came. It was planted to the side and not in the middle of the space since other things were there, but next year, I'll put the plant in the center of this area. While it's still small, I'll grow lots of cilantro. It will still need lots of support, just not a flat trellis. Probably stakes and ties.