Price range: £2.25 through £5.30
Green tomato- like fruits, surrounded by a a papery lantern. They are a favourite in Mexican cooking. Delicious raw or grilled and essential in authentic salsas. Grow and feed like tomatoes (plants will need support). Best grown under cover. The fruits crop Aug – Sept.
Scroll down for more info.
Tomatillo: Verde
Physalis philadelphica (Physalis ixocarpa)
Approx. 250-300 seeds per gram
Tomatillo is a great little vegetable/fruit to grow if you have a greenhouse or polytunnel.
They are native to South America but they are now grown across other warm regions such as Jamaica, Florida, India, Australia and South Africa.
They grow in a similar way to Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana) and the fruit develops inside a papery lantern. The plants are multi-branching and need support but a small piece of netting is sufficient. Tomatillo flowers are also very pretty – usually pale yellow with a dark centre.
Tomatillo Verde produces green, tomato-like fruits. Each one is surrounded by it’s papery lantern. The green variety of Tomatillo is slightly easier to grow in the UK than the purple as it ripens quicker, particularly if sunshine is limited; which is often the case during our British summers.
How to grow:
Sow seed in modules or trays during January to March at a temperature of 18-21°C (a propagator is perfect for this).
Pot on into 8cm pots and grow on at a minimum temperature of 10°C.
In April or May plant out in the green house/polytunnel border 45cm apart or 2 to a growbag. Some system of support will be necessary.
Harvest the fruits when they are between 3 and 5 cm diameter and have ripened. Keep picking during the season.
Pests and diseases:
Like other greenhouse crops tomatillos can be affected by aphids and red spider mite. We suggest using a biological control if this is a problem.
How to cook:
Remove the fruit from the papery husk and rinse them to remove the sticky, waxy coating.
The flavour is amazing; zingy, tart and tangy and perfect for salsa. To make a simple salsa chop some tomatillos, onion, fresh chilli, coriander, then mix with lime juice and salt to taste. Enjoy!