Purple Tomatillo | Physalis ixocarpa | Certified Organic
Deep purplish green fruits ripen to yellow.
Tomatillos are a force of a nature. They grow like weeds into lush plants the size of small trees and yield huge quantities of fruit that, in the right hands, can be turned into spectacularly delicious sauces and salsas. They self-sow readily, tolerate too much water and too little, and attract the eye with their shiny leaves and ornament-like husked fruit. The purple hue of this variety makes for a show-stopping salsa that blushes at the touch of every tortilla chip.
Sprawling heavily branched plants have deep-deep-green leaves and small, pretty, brown-flecked cupped yellow flowers. Fruits start out deep purplish-green and ripen to a light yellowish green with a large purple blush on the bottom. Flavor is great and yield is heavy. Overloaded with fruit? Remove the husks, place in zippered plastic bags, and store in the fridge, they'll last several weeks.
Start tomatillos 6 weeks before last frost. Transplant outdoors after threat of frost has passed. Tomatillos can be staked to make them easier to handle and take up less space in the garden. A simple 4' wooden stake or 4' section of 1" conduit will suffice per plant. (If growing several plants, stake with a basket weave as you would tomatoes.) Simply tie the stalk to the stake as the plant grows every 6". Harvest fruits when they have filled out the husk. To use, remove the husks and rinse before proceeding with recipe.
Days to Germination 3-10 days
Days to Maturity 65 days from transplant
Planting Depth 0-¼"
Spacing in Row 18-24"
Spacing Between Rows 30-48"
Height at Maturity 30"
Width at Maturity 36"
Sun Preference Full Sun
Artwork by Lillian Edwards. Lillian's work of art uses the texture of banana leaf paper as a backdrop for the plants and fruit, which are illustrated with gesso, India ink, and acrylic. The leaf paper lends a realistic feeling to the husks of the tomatillos.
About Hudson Valley Seed Company
They are a values-driven seed company that practices and celebrates responsible seed production and stewardship. Hudson Valley are best known for their beautiful artist-design seed packs (Art Packs) that appeal to gardeners, gift buyers, and lovers of art and nature.
These Art Packs, most fundamentally, tell stories. Hudson Valley challenges artists to convey in a manner that is fully their own, the history and meaning of the seed variety contained in each pack. These stories were once integral to traditional societies-stories of seeds were often origin stories for entire communities and peoples, and the lore and beliefs that accumulated around seed varieties reflected the nearly familial way in which gardeners and farmers regarded their crops. Our society is, by and large, no longer connected to plants this way. But we like to think these Art Packs help to stitch our fragmented world back together: useful seeds, evocative art, both equally valuable to our experience of being human.