Tomatillo Harvest

All good things come to those who wait, the saying goes. Boy oh boy, was it hard to wait on these goodies.

I find tomatillos hard to resist and pluck them off the vine for little veggie snacks throughout the season. This year I've held back and allowed them grow to full size. And what a marvellous crop I am getting. There will be fresh salsa verde and chips for movie night tonight.

Tomatillos At Last

Tomatillos will grow along the ground, but like tomatoes, they love to be staked and will reach for the sky, given the chance. 

The enchanting little yellow flowers eventually will be plentiful but tomatillos take a very long time to fruit. You need patience for this plant. Don't worry, the end result is worth the wait. 

What you harvest will be vinegary-flavored little tomato-like fruits that are scrumptious in a salsa, sauce or as a side dish. Don't harvest until the fruit is bursting out of its papery husk.  The tiny one here is harvested too early and will be more bitter than the full-sized one on the right. Once you peel back the husks, wash the tomatillo well to remove the sticky coating. Then finely chop and enjoy. 

Tomatillos are the chief ingredient in Salsa Verde. Whip up your own recipe of Salsa Verde using tomatillos, finely chopped onions, a chopped seeded serrano or jalapeno pepper, garlic, cilantro, pinch of salt and lime juice. Experiment with proportions to suit your particular taste.

Salsa Verde

This is a fresh mild salsa which is a nice addition to burritos, tacos or simply as a side dip for tortilla chips. My ingredients all came from my garden, but most can be purchased from a grocer. Like just about anything made from scratch, the taste of fresh salsa verde is nothing like the bottled variety. It has that special toothy crunch that makes it worth the effort.

RECIPE

Remove husks from tomatillos and wash. (The tomatillos are slightly sticky when you remove their papery husks.)

Chop finely. Then seed a jalapeno pepper. 

Mince together with:

1/2 a jalapeno (or more if you like your salsa with a kick)

clove of fresh garlic finely chopped

1/4 onion finely chopped

cilantro (a handful) chopped

add juice of half a lime

pinch of salt

The taste is fresh and well, green. Hence the name - salsa verde.

My tomatillo crop has been a steady source of deliciousness for the last two weeks but this was the first day I finally had the chance to make a salsa. The plant has been loving its new home inside the comfy hoop house, which is warmed by candles inside at night. It's quite a sight to see. A single candle in each bed has transformed each hoop house into a giant luminary. An unexpected and magical delight. 

Tomatillos, Turnips and Tatton

I've enjoyed a really beautiful crop of tomatillos this season. Tiny, but tender and flavorful.

There's not been a chance to make a single batch of green salsa though, because they are so delicious they are devoured whole within moments of being picked! What sweet, crunchy little morsels of heaven tomatillos are. I will plant more next season.

It's that time of the season to take an accounting of how your garden fared and how well you used the bounty. I'm making decisions now about how to structure next season's garden. Tomatillos are a definite increase, as is cabbage, potatoes, beans and peas. Next year, squashes will go in earlier, and lettuce will take up less space, since it grows so quickly. I'll also add more turnips.

Seems like I planted the turnip seeds only weeks ago. Surely it is longer since I've already been able to harvest greens that went into a stew Tuesday, and a few baby turnips to eat raw as a treat. My first introduction to the turnip was as a raw snack. I was playing with the children next door, and their mother handed me a raw turnip to eat along with her kids. The others munched happily on them, like apples. I'd never even seen a turnip before, purple and white and mysterious. It looked like a very pale beet. But I was instantly enamored of the peppery, crunchy, full bodied flavor. To me, it was exotic. I've loved them raw, ever since. Turnip greens came to me later in life. I find when eating them raw you can detect a slight hint of seaweed. The greens are just loaded with calcium. A healthy choice for the lactose intolerant.

GARDENING PODCASTS

I listen to podcasts daily. Mostly literature podcasts, but also some gardening ones. Gardening Tips From Tatton Park is a video podcast which I enjoy a great deal. They tend to run approximately five minutes, It's like a calming little interlude in the day. I've learned a ton from Head Gardener Sam Youd. Here's the link to the RSS feed. I subscribe to his twice monthly video podcast on iTunes and encourage you to do the same. Enjoy.

Paste this into your browser or click on the link below:

http://rss.splashbroadcast.com/podcast/tatton/tatton.xml

Tatton Park Podcast - Gardening Tips

If you don't ask...

My latest acquisition is this fantastic compost bin, the "Earth Machine," which was lying in pieces in a neighbors' yard, overgrown with weeds. I had my eye on it for months, then finally offered to buy it, and was delighted to have it gifted to me instead. Repayment will come in jars of elderberry jelly, ripe tomatoes and basil, which I have in abundance!

The other three compost bins are full to brimming. And while I've had this bin for only ten days, it's now half full too. Kitchen waste and trimmed yard clippings are next year's garden vitamins. 

Compost is teaming with nutrients. Every bed I enriched with compost this year did amazing. I love it when waste goes into production instead of into a landfill. Check out this YouTube video on how to feed your compost bin.

These old fence boards (below) are going to use as well. After reading another "urban farmer's" blog I learned that people were repurposing old fence rails to build raised beds. 

The boards already have a new home. And the new owner is even picking them up! I save money on gas, dump fees and my trash is someone else's recycled treasure.

On the harvest front: Tying the tomatillo bush up on a trellis did the trick. In only 12 days, yellow flowers have turned into beautiful papery green cocoons. Inside, the tomatillos are growing.

Patience, patience... I must resist harvesting them until they at least quadruple in size from this. I absolutely adore tomatillos.

Unfortunately, I didn't exercise any patience with the carrots. 

Sometimes the temptation is just too great. But thankfully I held my enthusiasm down to only five.