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September, 2007 |
Physalis ixocarpa and Physalis philadelphica
The Mexican Tomatillo is an interesting plant to grow because of it's
useful fruit and, in many cases, attractive plant habit. Some may say
the plant is weedy, but I like it's style. It branches and rambles, not
a bush and not a vine. I've seen it thread through the open branches of
a tree until it towers above my head, but I know it also, to spill over
the earth as a low mound of green. I like the chinese lantern -like
green calyxes, like little balloons, which are often borne in great
abundance.
This year, besides the common green tomatillo that we
use
in salsa, we grew a wild "landrace" which is sometimes used by natives
of the southwest U.S., turned out to be very drought tolerant and
produced a profusion of tiny, dark green fruits which had a pronounced
tomatillo flavor. Our favorite though, was a medium sized yellowish
tomatillo which is mild and sweet. The flavor is really outstanding.
We've grown different kinds of tomatillos since
the 1980's and have always enjoy fresh salsas made from them.
I've made quite a few gringo converts who now use the wonderful
tomatillo in their cooking, Not only are many gardeners north of
the boarder unaware of the beauty and use of tomatillos (husk
tomatoes), most know only the large kind that show up in supermarkets
on occassion.
There is quite a bit of diversity in this species
including unexpected flavors and sweetness in some kinds. Fruit
can be dark green to pale green, purple and yelllow. When the
mature fruit fills it's balloon-like calyx it will drop, then it's at
it's peak.
Ground Cherry (Physalis sp.)
Our strain of Ground Cherry has reseeded here at Flanders Bay Farm for
years from an original planting of ground cherries from a half dozen or
so sources and it may have crossed with our wild ground cherry. I think
that our's is naturalized from Europe (by way of South America
originally) although we have some native North American species as
well. One of our farmstand customers from Eastern Europe says this is
the one she remembers grew wild there and that they used for preserves,
jams and pies. It's probably similar to a common cultivar:
Goldie which you should compare to.
The plants are large and sprawling, up to 2 feet high
and 3 feet wide. Because it takes them awhile for the seeds to sprout
in the summer, they tend to be fall bearers. The fruit, when ripe
(calyx turns brown and the fruit becomes orange) falls to the ground
and they can be scooped up in quantities enough to make a pie or two. I
don't know how to explain the flavor, maybe pineapple like, most of the
plants bear very sweet fruit which is nice to snack on but there is
some variation in fruit quality.
