# Tomatillos and ground cherries



## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Anyone here have any experience with these two fruits? I have seeds for both. I am in the planning stages of next summer's garden, and before deciding how much space to allot for each item, I'd like to get a handle on what I can do with them. I don't want to grow anything if I can't can it or dehydrate it for a minimum of a year's storage. 

Do you eat/grow either of these plants, and if so, how do you make use of them?

Thanks!


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

I have a fair bit of experience with ground cherries, easy to grow, not many problems to speak of, lots of fruit in not very long of a time.

Not everyone seems so fond of them :dunno: Have usually grown the aunt molly variety which is fairly tart but I like that. 

I like them fresh but most people seem to like them as jam.


----------



## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

We haven't grown Tomatillos(yet) but we use them to make enchilada sauce and we sometimes add it to salsa. I have no idea how to grow or tend them but it's on my list, I guess I'm going to have to plant some this spring.

Just rub them with oil and bake them until they start to brown. You can even let the skins burn a little and it adds a good flavor as long as you rub off the "burn" before using them. You pitch them in a food processor or blender and pretty much liquify em then you can doctor them up with spices(or herbs to be proper).

Some good flavors that go well with them are cumin, cilantro and your favorite chili powder.


----------



## dirtgrrl (Jun 5, 2011)

Unfortunately I haven't grown either one, but I use the tomatillos in pork and green chile stew. 

Saute chopped garlic (several big cloves) and onions (1 small to medium) in a little fat in a large pot or deep skillet, then add a few cups of water or stock. Blister 4 or 5 big green chile peppers (anaheim, hatch, ancho or poblano), about a pound of tomatillos, and a small to medium jalapeno over a hot fire (I use the bbq grill). Don't cook the peppers and tomatillos, just blister the skin. A little burn is OK. Quickly place them all in a paper bag or covered container to cool and steam the skins loose. Then pull them out and scrape as much skin as you can off them. (This is tricky but you get better with practice. It's ok if a bunch of skin stays on; just adds more fiber) Slice the peppers open longways and scrape out the seeds and discard the stems. Slice the pepper flesh up into inch-size pieces and place in the pot. Slice the tomatillos up into eighths and throw into the pot. Add a little salt, cover and simmer. Take about 2 pounds of boneless pork and cut into bite-size cubes, and brown well with a little fat in another skillet. If you are using leftover cooked pork you can skip the browning. Place the pork in the pepper pot, add the juice from a can of white hominy and simmer all for 2 to 3 hours. You may need to add a little more stock or water to be sure it doesn't scorch, but you don't want it too juicy. Somewhere towards the end of this time, add the hominy, then taste your stew and add more salt if needed, some pepper, and maybe a little cumin if you like. Simmer for 20-30 minutes more and serve. 

Good with cornbread or home made tortillas. The tomatillos cook down and make it thick, but the peppers stay intact. If you're not a fan of heat, skip the jalapeno, especially if you used poblano or ancho chiles. If you're not a fan of hominy, use diced white potatoes instead. This is especially good the next day. You can speed it up a little by blendering the tomatillos like Davarm said, but it takes time to really develop the flavor.

I've never cooked with ground cherries myself, but my gramma would use them in fruit pies, like any other berry.


----------



## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

I gave both a try ... (but )

Like cowboyhermit said ... the ground cherries were not a hit (the family didn't care for them one way or the other). The tomatillos, we used in salsa but that was about it.

So now they both get a pass. (I hope you have better luck. )


----------



## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

Tried tomatillos this year (zone 5). Planted them with tomatoes and put both in at the same time. Had a great tomato crop, tomatillos probably could have used another month. Most were small... around the size of a cherry... yet the husk was much larger, perhaps big enough to contain between a golf ball and a tennis ball. Unfortunately I had to go out of town for 2 days for work and it picked that time to have a hard frost. Came back and the tomatillos were all really soft and none made it.

Moral... start them as early as you can and you might get a good crop.


----------



## roselle (Oct 20, 2013)

goshengirl said:


> Anyone here have any experience with these two fruits? I have seeds for both. I am in the planning stages of next summer's garden, and before deciding how much space to allot for each item, I'd like to get a handle on what I can do with them. I don't want to grow anything if I can't can it or dehydrate it for a minimum of a year's storage.
> 
> Do you eat/grow either of these plants, and if so, how do you make use of them?
> 
> Thanks!


Ground cherries are YUM! They are sweet and you can make pies and can jellies/jam with them. I like to grow them, because, if all else fails, these are a quick fruit. The seeds are TINY. I put plastic down and plant with seeds, although I think many people start with plants. I put a hole in the plastic and smash in 10-12 seeds. The plants are odd lucking and the little berry sized fruits are in husks, like the tomatillo. They are ripe when they fall to the ground. There are several different types of ground cherries...I think one tastes kind of like citrus and another like pineapple. I like to grow these as a prep, in case something happens, and I can't get fruits, I could get these fruiting in one growing season. I believe they will volunteer back, if you don't rework the area.


----------



## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

*Andi said:


> I gave both a try ... (but )
> 
> Like cowboyhermit said ... the ground cherries were not a hit (the family didn't care for them one way or the other). The tomatillos, we used in salsa but that was about it.
> 
> So now they both get a pass. (I hope you have better luck. )





CulexPipiens said:


> Tried tomatillos this year (zone 5). Planted them with tomatoes and put both in at the same time. Had a great tomato crop, tomatillos probably could have used another month. Most were small... around the size of a cherry... yet the husk was much larger, perhaps big enough to contain between a golf ball and a tennis ball. Unfortunately I had to go out of town for 2 days for work and it picked that time to have a hard frost. Came back and the tomatillos were all really soft and none made it.
> 
> Moral... start them as early as you can and you might get a good crop.


Do the tomatillos plants have similar requirements as peppers? I've seen a few pictures and they look kinda like pepper plants and was wondering how hard it would be to care for them.

I started looking and decided to plant some this spring and see how they do down here.


----------



## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

I can't remember any special care I to had gave to either plant... In my area a bell pepper needs a lot of TLC but a cayenne, will do very well no matter what.


----------



## kyredneck (Aug 12, 2012)

roselle said:


> Ground cherries are YUM! They are sweet....


That's my experience with the wild (naturalized?) 'Chinese Lanterns' that grow here (corn and tobacco fields commonly,), they're quite fruity or berry tasting; it's odd, growing up I thought the berries were poisonous like nightshade because that was what I was taught, but I learned better from one of my foraging books. Haven't grown them yet.

Though I actually didn't know what to do with them at the time, I grew tomatillos from seed once many years ago, as I recall they were late but bore well, and the vines creeped/sprawled on the ground but weren't what I'd consider too invasive to other vegetables, golf ball size or bigger.

If I grew them again I'd make fermented relish with them, which I've done several times with store bought ones since I learned to ferment veggies.


----------



## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Y'all have some good ideas for the tomatillos. I bought 6 #10 cans for 75 cents a can a few years ago. I had no idea what to do with them but at that price I couldn't pass them up. I guess I need to get them out & do something with them now.


----------



## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Thanks, everyone. I think I'm going to plant some and see how they work for us, but not plant too much until I know if they're worth the garden space. 

I always see tomatillos as an ingredient for salsa, but we don't make salsa (gasp, I know, lol). But this variety I have seeds for, supposedly they taste like pineapple. So I'm thinking we can figure out something to do with that. :dunno:

I've got a couple varieties of ground cherries. Aunt Molly's and something that's supposed to taste like pineapple (Cossack, I think). Yep, all they have to do is use the phrase "tastes like pineapple" in the seed catalog and I'm all in. 

I've also got another ground cherry, an unnamed native. There's a naturalist in our county who scours old farms and cemeteries and other 'untouched' places and collects native species and tries to grow and spread these varieties (that's what I have). Hopefully it will taste like yours, kyredneck - I'm across the river from you, but similar region.

If these grow easy but we don't really care for them, I may still just plant them somewhere on the property (just not in the garden). That way if we ever _need _the food, it's there, and we won't be so picky in times of need.


----------



## kyredneck (Aug 12, 2012)

Tomatillos seems to me to be a decent substitution for green tomatoes. Some of the ones at the supermarket are pretty good sized. The thought HAS occurred to me to try frying them like a green tomato; anyone ever done that?


----------



## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

kyredneck said:


> Tomatillos seems to me to be a decent substitution for green tomatoes. Some of the ones at the supermarket are pretty good sized. The thought HAS occurred to me to try frying them like a green tomato; anyone ever done that?


That's what I was just thinking as I read the first sentence of your post! We can buy them in the grocery so I'll try to remember to pick some up, fry them, & report back.


----------



## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Update: okay, I actually did buy some tomatillos at the grocery back in November but they sat on my counter until today. This is what they look like sliced up. They have more meat on them than a tomato. I fried them up like a green tomato & they taste almost exactly like a green tomato. I would suppose you could use them like you would a green tomato. I really like that they lasted so long just sitting on the counter. Mine sat there nearly two full months.


----------



## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

goshengirl said:


> Anyone here have any experience with these two fruits? I have seeds for both. I am in the planning stages of next summer's garden, and before deciding how much space to allot for each item, I'd like to get a handle on what I can do with them. I don't want to grow anything if I can't can it or dehydrate it for a minimum of a year's storage.
> 
> Do you eat/grow either of these plants, and if so, how do you make use of them?
> 
> Thanks!


I eat the wild ground cherries when I find them, I always thought they were related to tomatilloes due to the husk.
I love ground cherry jelly and baked ham!


----------



## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

That does sound good! I'm looking forward to growing these buggers.


----------



## August (Jan 8, 2014)

*Tomatillos*

One thing that's great to try is making gazpacho during the summer months. A few tomatillos, tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, garlic, tomato or vegetable juice, cilantro, and spices like salt and pepper. its a great refreshing cold soup that can be spiced up and requires no cooking.


----------



## kyredneck (Aug 12, 2012)

heheh, I make 'gazpacho' for breakfast just about every morning since I got my Nutri-Bullet right before Christmas.....


----------



## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

August said:


> One thing that's great to try is making gazpacho during the summer months. A few tomatillos, tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, garlic, tomato or vegetable juice, cilantro, and spices like salt and pepper. its a great refreshing cold soup that can be spiced up and requires no cooking.


That sounds fabulous! :yummy:


----------

