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.

Autumn Backyard Garden. Herfs Agterplaas Tuin

My garden is in its transitional phase at the moment. Some summer vegetables are still producing, some are barely clinging on, most are dead, and I am itching to start planting autumn and winter veggies. 

Preparation is key to planting in any season, so I started by working over the bed where my butternuts were, and added some beautiful black gold. Yes, I did go for that turn of phrase because the alliteration has such a nice ring to it... Okay; the 'black gold' I'm referring to in this instance is chicken manure (chicken poo). I bought it at one of the only truly organic chicken farms in the Garden Route area; Red Barn. Go and check it out for yourselves people. The owner doesn't use any nasty antibiotics or chemicals and her chickens are free range in every sense of the word. The bed is nearly ready for the onions I will be planting there in April. I must still just pull out the miserable tomatillos and add some sand. This is how the bed looks now:

Chicken manure added to Onion Bed/Hoendermis by Uiebedding ingespit

 ... and this is why I said "miserable tomatillos":

My one and only tomatillo/Die som van my tomatillo oes

I can proudly say not everything is a miserable failure at the moment. Some plants actually still produce, even if the harvests are mostly meager. The star in my little Garden Route patch is still the pepino, as ever. I have also harvested volunteer cherry tomatoes constantly, but I can't take much credit for these. They are virtually indestructible! We are also enjoying the occasional bunch of Contender beans. The granny picked another 300g the day before yesterday, and we just had it in a gorgeous sweet curry with potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and meat yum :-)

Harvest:  450g pepino + 150g cherry tomatoes + 2x cucamelons

Let me take you on a quick tour of the rest of my garden...

The Delicious Monster starting to fruit/Vrugte aan die Monstera deliciosa

Our Delicious Monster (Monstera deliciosa) plant is clearly not past its fruit-bearing age, as I previously thought. I cannot wait for these babies to open up and ripen!

Cherry Guava covered in fruit/Klomp klein vruggies aan die Aarbeikoejawel

The little Cherry Guava/Strawberry Guava (Psidium cattleianum) tree is such a star. It has loads of little guavas, just 6 months after it last bore fruit.
 

Two hiding cucamelons/Die Mexikaanse Suurkomkommertjies kruip goed weg

I might have done exactly all the Wrong things as far as the cucamelons (Melothria scabra) go this year, but luckily I spotted a few small ones hiding behind dense leaf coverage. Yes, I will try them again later this year, and this time I will do it right!
 

Bell Peppers/Die klokvormige soetrissies begin dra

I have a suspicion these bell peppers might already be a strange hybridisation, as the granny used to grow all types of capsicums in close proximity. My motto: who cares, as long as they taste nice, hey?
 

Tamarillo flowers/Boomtamatie blommetjies

Since I bought my Tree Tomato (or tamarillo as Kiwi's call them) in May 2013 it has literally reached for the sky. The tree is now taller than my 6ft1, the leaves are humongous and yet I haven't picked one single fruit from it. Is this normal? I wouldn't know, but my granny certainly had a mouthful to say about it. I'm sure the words "pull out" have entered her mind. Luckily disaster seems to be averted, as I have spied some petite flowers up top. Is this a sign of juicy tamarillos to follow?
 

Another Black Hungarian Pepper/Nog 'n Swart Hongaarse Soetrissie aan't vorm

This will be the second little Black Hungarian Pepper to be harvested. It might have been more if I didn't accidentally destroy most of the plants. An honest mistake due to it looking suspiciously like yet More purple tomatillos... whoops!
 

Yet another ripe pepino/Nóg 'n boomspanspek is gereed om te pluk

Not much more to say about this one. Yes, the pepino is officially the gift that keeps on giving :-)