Foreign Friday. Volksvreemde Vrydag

Tomatillos (Physalis philadelphica/Physalis ixocarpa)

When I bought my first tomatillo seeds a year ago (May 2013) I was very hopeful. It was the first seed I bought, and being a naive, first-time veg gardener I thought I would harvest a ton of green and purple tomatillos come summer. By March this year I was ready to pull the whole lot out. One miserable tomatillo. Hopes and dreams dashed.

Middle Feb 2014 - still hoping for any type of harvest

Middle Mar 2014 - hopes dashed...

... one miserable tomatillo harvested by Mid-March 2014

I really don't know what I did wrong with my tomatillos, but I have two theories. One; the sun scorched them, nestled up against the vibracrete wall. Two; the soil wasn't fertile enough. It's difficult to say which one of these theories is the correct one, or if it is a combination of the two. This is because I added tons of compost just as the weather cooled down slightly by the end of March.

In the gentler weather of April I started to notice a difference, and by middle May I had tomatillos everywhere:

15 May 14 - An abundance of green tomatillos!!!

15 Mei 14 - Groen tomatillos in oorvloed!!!

Now I was faced with another problem. You see, after I basically wrote off the tomatillos in March I had set this bed out for brown onions. Only brown onions. The granny told me April is the best month to plant onions in my neck of the woods. April came and went as I waited for the tomatillos to ripen, but by middle May I couldn't delay anymore. Yes, my tomatillos would've been bigger had I harvested them later, but onions are worth more in this household. You see, tomatillos are volksvreemd... onions not. So out went the tomatillos and in went the Texas Granos. 

This is what I harvested:

 

Maybe I should try a simple Salsa Verde recipe now. What do you think?

Botanical Name: PHYSALIS PHILADEPHICA or PHYSALIS IXOCARPA
Common Name: Tomatillo, Mexican tomato, husk tomato
Volksnaam: -
Native to: Mexico
Date planted/sowed: 10 + 18 Oct 2013
Ease to grow: Moderately easy to grow, but I had difficulties getting the plants to fruit
Costs: R11.00 for 35 seeds and about R20.00 for compost
Notes: Compost soil well two weeks before sowing tomatillo seed. Also avoid planting against hot, reflective walls.