Photo by Zoe Schaeffer on Unsplash

Husk tomatoes, also known as tomatillos, can be very productive plants, producing 64 to 200 fruits per plant in a season. Tomatillos don’t like freezing, so should be planted after any danger of last frost. Planted as such, they will flower mid-June and ripen mid-July.

So then, what to do with too many tomatillos? A few options:

Tomatillos can be canned, whole. However, keep in mind that home-canned tomatillos will be cooked until tender and softened, so if you like the firmer texture of tomatillos then you may prefer one of our other options.

Tomatillo Green Salsa is probably the most popular way to prepare, preserve, and serve husk tomatoes. You could also substitute green tomatoes in this recipe instead of tomatillos (but remember it is important not to make any changes to the proportion of tomatoes/tomatillos to lemon or lime juice, and that lemon or lime juice CANNOT be substituted for vinegar in this recipe). This recipe and directions are also available en Español: Salsa verde de tomatillo.

In contrast, Tangy Tomatillo Relish contains vinegar instead of lemon or lime juice, bell peppers instead of hot peppers and it also highlights the more unusual ingredient jicama. And that jicama provides a nice slightly crunchy texture to this relish compared to most others. The relish could be scooped like a salsa, spread on top of tacos, or mixed into prepared dishes.

For more about home-growing of tomatillos see Tomatillos by a Sonoma County Master Gardener with the University of California and for more about large-scale growing of tomatillos see the publication Tomatillo by University of Kentucky.