Ole! Today was tomatillo harvesting day and salsa verde (green sauce) day.
This is the first year I've grown tomatillos so I didn't know what to expect. I grew the 'Toma Verde' variety and started them from seed indoors in late March. The plants got off to a slow start so I had my doubts about whether we'd get any sort of a harvest at all. Fortunately, they finally kicked it into high gear once the hot weather set in.
These photos show what the plants and fruits look like. The plants tend to sprawl a bit and are quite prolific. The tomato-like fruits are covered with a husk; one the husk becomes papery and splits, that's when the fruit hiding inside is ripe.
Today's harvest was actually our second one so we've been pleased with how they produced. Each time we've made some salsa verde with them. This is the recipe I used, which is from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. We also harvested some mild peppers and Poblano peppers to use in the sauce.
My husband Bill used our barbecue grill to "blister" the skins of the tomatillos and peppers, which makes it easier to peel off the skins.
The recipe was really quick and easy to make. Once the sauce was hot, we canned it in pint-sized canning jars with the two-piece lids. And that was it. Now they're down in my basement pantry with all of the other canned goods. That green sauce makes a pretty contrast with all of the other home-canned items like jams, cherries, tomato sauce and so on. We're looking forward to enjoying it throughout the winter!
