Hi Adam,

She's probably referring to tomatillos. See the link below. They are called Tomate Verde in Mexico. We grow them here with the tomatoes and usually use them to make green sauce or enchilada sauce or put them in salsa.

Bruce

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomatillos

Hey Spatz, if you're reading this, Toma Verde is one of the seedlings I gave you last week, and Rendidora. Adam, we'll have some seeds for you to give your close friend after this season, hopefully.

Bruce, they're also known as ground cherries, is that right?

PP

yee hah, i knew you'd come through. this poor woman has been pining for these for such an age. thanx heaps everyone, i can't wait to tell her.

So does that mean that next year we'll all be growing these as well as toms, caps & chillis?

Of course, Sarah! :)

I'd love to grow tomatillos. What do they taste like? I've never had one before. Maybe I should taste one before I decide to grow one. *grins*

Ooops, just read Patrina's post properly. Patrina, do you mean to say that I've got tomatillos to grow? *confused*

Actually I'm just really knackered. Tough day outside. And sheep got shorn. One got away. Grrr..... So 1 unshorn sheep - anyone want a sheep? Free? You just have to round him off and take him away.

I was a shearer for 16 years Spatz. Just shoot the bugger and put it one the spit. Sheep are nearly as dumb as George Dubya. Only good for eating. Sorry.

Mantis *dreaming of yummy spit roast sheep. Pulling bits of tender flesh off to go with the 1990 Rouge Homme cab sav that is passing my lips as we speak.*

PS are you the vego or is it Patrina, sorry, back to the dream.

Our two wee woolies were shorn last week...
Round 'em up? Nah...
Just wave a bucket in the air and they come running :)
They're not stupid.

They do look cute when they've just been shorn - like they're running around in their wooly underwear :)

Amanda
Vegetarian sheep keeper

Yep Spatz, you have 2 tomatillos, Toma Verde and Rendidora, still wee little babies in Spatz's Seedling Nursery!

Proud Parent PP

As a general answer to Sarah's question, if we've got seeds, you all can have some as well. Hopefully we'll get a seed sharing thing going at the end of each season, the idea being that after you grow out more plants and save seeds, you'll do the same.

Let's spread the fun around!

Patrina

Looking forward to it!
* Sarah who's too terrified to ask PP for seeds, who knows where it might end!*

Sheep are nearly as dumb as George Dubya.
Mantis, thatÂs a pretty rude thing to say about sheep!

ThatÂs right Patrina, Ground Cherry is another name.
Tomatillo - AKA Husk Tomato, Ground Cherry, Chinese Lantern Plant, Miltomate, Mexican Green Tomato, Bladder Cherry, & Tomate Verde just to make it confusing! IÂd guess 99.5% of people in the States that eat them (and 99% of the folks that grow them) wouldnÂt know them by anything other than Tomatillo.

Unlike tomatoes they do need insect pollination. In the 10+ years IÂve grown them, my observation has been: 1 plant equals zero or few tomatillos, 2 (or more) plants = some tomatillos, 2 plants of different types (say a purple and green) = lots of tomatillos.

Last night it was supposed to get down to around 3° C so I picked what was left. This is about half of them in the setting sun.
The taste is different from anything else. ItÂs kind of sweet, a little tart, not like a green (or green when ripe) tomato. One variety is named Pineapple and thereÂs a bit of a pineapple taste to it.

Adam, IÂm pretty sure I have seeds left (3 varieties I think). I can send you some if your friend wants to grow them this year. Sarah too, if you want to give Âem a try.

Great pic Bruce.

What does one use them Tomatillos for. If you have grown them for 10 years you must have a use for them.

Mantis *Sorry about the sheep thing, (thinking about it, I think most of the sheep I met, could probabaly do as good, or better job of running both our countries).
Also, not knowing a thing about Tomatillos.*

Mantis,

Here are a few uses.
HereÂs arecipe
for chicken. IÂd add a little lime to the sauce and barbecue the chicken.

If you like chocolate and chilies you should try Chicken Mole (Mo-lay). Soooo good.

Bruce, hoping Dubya will be doing retirement planning Wednesday..

Oh, I was going to add this Chile info for the Mole recipe.

i've sent an e mail bruce. thanx fer the offer. g dubya, according to the pundits will get in again, but only just. hopefully, like all other western countries, people will get kerry over the line coz the red sox won. good to know we think about who we vote for. ours just got in again coz he's been there before, and he offered magic beans to grandma.

Bruce, mole sauce sounds wonderful and rich, but I have no idea how it would be used in a meal? Is it an accompaniment for meat usually? Or with beans etc. in something like tortillas?

Patrina

PP, seems to be served with poultry.

But I could imagine that this sauce would be good with some hearty veggies, too. :)

Just thrown my computer in the bin, (well not really but I like to imagine myself doing it) back on dad's laptop.
Bruce I'd love some tomatillos, send some extras to Adam & we'll sort it out. Thanks adam :)

The Physalis species
There are a few, and almost all share a few common names such as Tomatillo or Ground Cherry (so named, I've heard, because they're ripe when they fall off the bush, onto the ground). Only Physalis peruviana seems to be consistently named Cape Gooseberry.
Here are the ones I've found:
Physalis alkekengi (Winter Cherry)
P. angulata
P. ixocarpa
P. peruviana (Cape Gooseberry)
P. philadelphica
P. pruinosa (I'm growing this one)
P. pubescens
The two most frequently referred to as Tomatillos are P. ixocarpa and P. philadelphica
What does all this means? Who knows?

Thanks for the tip about pollination Bruce.

bruce is sending a truckload of tomatillos, well, three varieties. can't wait to try Mole Sauce, doesn't sound very vegetarian, more like road kill coulie, but there ya go, people crack up 'bout beefsteak tomatoes.

PP, the 2 tomatillos from you have flower buds! They are only about 20cm or so tall (the plants). They are growing like mad at the moment.

So, who else is growing tomatillos?

Hhmmmm, I think I recall seeing something labelled tomatillo at a nursery, maybe Bunnings, or somewhere... Do I need one?

Amanda

So, who else is growing tomatillos?

Me!

Amanda, they're a must!

Which ones are you growing? And how tall are they? :)

My Toma Verde and Rendidora tomatillos are also growing fast Spatz, and have flowers. Yippeeeeeee!

PP

I have Cizneros, Toma Verde and Pineapple. They haven't done much, maybe i need to plant them out?.

Rendidora has got its first flower. It's soooo pretty! :)

All these tomatillos/husk tomatoes/ground cherries or whatever you want to call them are fairly similar I'm thinking. Apart from a few coloured ones (purple), they seem to vary most in size, and even then not greatly. It will be interesting to see just how different they really are!

Yeah, the Cizneros are meant to be at least twice the size of the Toma Verde. Should be good to see what happens.

Monday night I looked at my tomatillo plants and saw the branches had all dropped to the ground and looked as if they were in desperate need of retying, etc.
It was just weird, how all those branches suddenly flopped on to the ground. When I looked closer, I saw that the husks were all filled to capacity and the WEIGHT of the ripening tomatillos was too much for the branches. WOW!

There are now a few ready to be picked. Question - can I eat them raw? Or do I have to steam them? The recipes I've found so far mentioned to steam or cook them. :)

Spatz, yours are Golden Berry right? They're definitely edible raw, though only really palatable when completely ripe.

... mine is covered with lanterns but they're empty. I don't think I got good pollination!

No, Raymondo, I'm not talking about my Golden Berry, but the Toma Verde and Rendidora Tomatillo. But I can tell you now, it's not nice raw. It's spit-yuk! I tried. Yuk. Must try to fry them or something. Or wait longer till I harvest them?

The Golden Berry doesn't fill out the husk as the tomatillo does. Wait till the husk is papery and brown. They are really delicious. Great snack while you wander in your garden. Sweet.

Your Aunt Molly Ground Cherry is doing well. Spreading and flowering and it also has some green lanterns. :)

I got one Tomatillo plant, and it went brown at the top and died.

Hey folks, an NHer butting in here...

Tomatillos and ground cherries are not the same. Although both are in the Physalis family, they are different species.

P. ixocarpo is the tomatillo (aka Mexican Husk Tomato)
P. peruviana is the Cape Gooseberry
P. philadelphica is the wild tomatillo
P. pruinosa is the Strawberry Tomato or Dwarf Cape Gooseberry

Generally (and this does depend on the variety and one's taste preferences), the ixo's and the phil's are in savory dishes, frequently cooked. The other two tend to be much sweeter and used fresh or in preserves and baking.

In all cases they can become garden pests if you let any fruit drop and rot on the earth. Think mint and privet and...

Jennifer, who believes she's PP's source for those tomatillo varieties

Well, the tomatillo season is over and what shall I say? I haven't used them in anything, as the taste of the first one that I tried really put me off. The sheep loved them.

I saved a few seeds but as they need to be insect pollinated and there have to be 2 plants, but I had 2 different varieties, they are probably crossed. Oh dear.

How did the rest of you go? What did you use them for?

I also grew Ground Cherry "Aunt Molly". These did very well. I am still not sure about the taste, though. There is something there that I couldn't figure out. Not sure whether I'll grow them again next season.

The sheep loved them.

Smart . I'll try to post pictures of a few recipes this season to get those of you Downunder to give 'em a try.

My tomatillos, 2 of 5 varieties.

{{gwi:2116656}}

What I'm doing as I'm posting, for those of you who have forgotten the tomato glut. Canning the excess. So many tomatoes, so little timeÂand so darn hot!

{{gwi:2116657}}

If anyone has any Psyalis seeds to try and you think they might grow in the Wimmera(mediterranean climate) I'd like a few to give it a go.I have just set out two new beds in the backyard (which means most is now under beds and no lawn to mow ..YES!......and yesterday I put in the posts for my bush house so things are looking up here.

Hi Antesoo
I can send you some purple tomatillo seeds for you to plant...they will grow really well there if you keep them watered
Wait until the husk dries before picking...best after they fall to the ground
Many people get turned off a litle because they have a sticky feel to the touch when the husk is taken off...you can get rid of this sticky feel by swishing them in a basin of soapy water and then rinsing in clean water...it actually improves the taste but I am happy with them as they are
They are easy to collect seeds...you put them in a blender...husk and all (when the husk is dried and they fall to the ground) ...then you put them into a bucket and fill with water and stir...the seeds sink the crap rises to the top (a bit like politics) and repeat until all crap is gone...poor off the water and spread the seeds onto a piece of calico in the warm (shaded) area so they dry as quickly as possible and then rub to seperate and plant
I have heaps of the purple ones but only very few Aunty Molly ones...others may be able to help
My experience is that the Purple Tomatillo is by far the largest and probably least tasty (maybe here it is not so tasty because of the cold weather but the others (Cape Gooseberry...P.peruviana) was much tastier more lemony ...particularly when not fallen
I have just eaten them raw but am interested in getting any of the cooked recipes
cheers
Peter

Bruce, great pictures, thanks! Tomatillos are very pretty plants, sooo easy to grow and very productive, too. I might grow some again this summer. Just because they are pretty. I'd really appreciate a few recipes that you have tried and tested. There is a plethora of recipes on the net but I couldn't decide which ones to try. (How's that for an excuse?)

What is your favourite tomatillo?

Your preserved tomatoes look smashing! We are really enjoying our produce this winter. Heaps of preserved tomatoes, tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes, bottled tomato-sauce, pasta sauce, frozen cherry tomatoes. It makes it all worthwhile when you slave away in the heat in summer.

Antesoo, I saved seeds from my tomatillos, but they are most likely a cross between Toma Verde and Rendidora (or so). But that shouldn't really matter. I've also got seeds for Cape Gooseberry and the Ground Cherry "Aunt Molly". If you'd like some seeds, send me an email.

Go away Bruce! :-) You obviously don't have to contend with fruit fly & the myriad fungal & bacterial diseases that plague a Sydney summer!!!!! no wonder Adam & Ray have moved to Armidale, I wish I could go tooo!!!!