Toma Verde

[Mjdtexan]

I am going to grow Tomato Growers Supply Company's Toma Verde Tomatillo this year so that I can make green salsa. Is there anything special that I need to know about growing these or just any suggestions for a better growing experiance with these?

[raspberianred]

I believe that tomatillos are indeterminates and so must be staked like tomatoes. They are started at the time when you start tomato seeds. This will be my first year growing these in addition to the purple tomatillos. I am growing both to compare and see if there are any differences between the two. Good Luck!

[Mjdtexan]

Originally Posted by raspberianred

I believe that tomatillos are indeterminates and so must be staked like tomatoes. They are started at the time when you start tomato seeds. This will be my first year growing these in addition to the purple tomatillos. I am growing both to compare and see if there are any differences between the two. Good Luck!

Thank You. I was thinking about growing them along a fence line and tying them to it. Have any of you ever tried this?

Raspberianred, I really do apprciate your answer.

[brokenbar]

I grow about 50 tomatillo plants every year. I love them but they are the sprawlers of the garden and it seems like I am tieing them up every day. You have to use thick twine 'tho because they are not as tough in the stem as tomato plants and thin twine will slice right through a branch. I actually start mine about 4 weeks from setting out. The reason is because these suckers grow like weeds (which, in my new home in Mexico, they are...) If you start them at the same time as tomatoes, I have found they quickly out-grow the container and try to smother everything else. They get really spindly quickly. I might suggest a couple of other varieties..."Grande Maje" and "Cizneros" and also "Burpees Gigante". These varieties get as large as a small orange and are much less work than the little 1" dudes from smaller fruiting varieties. ALthough as of yet, there is no large fruiting purple varieties that I am aware of.

These re-seed RAMPANTLY...I put black plastic under mine and try to keep any fruits that fall picked up. They just spread their weeny little seeds all over the place and nothing seems to phase them. They are not self-fruiting so you need several for pollination. When the husks start to turn brown, these have a tendency to leave the plant so constant picking is a good idea (although they do not bruise as easily as tomatoes) especially if you are in a zone that gets a lot of wind.

I use "Stock Panel" or some call it "Hog Panel" to tie them to. They get branches going in every direction and really, these grow faster than one might imagine. It really is a constant chore to confine them. Growing them along a fence line would be ideal.

If you will visit the Tomatillo Thread on this forum, I have posted many recipes and growing tips. My harvest would never be complete without Salsa Verde...my family eats it on everything.

[mdvpc]

broken-

50 Tomatotillo plants a year! Wow, that is a stout amount of plants. And I love salsa verde!

[brokenbar]

We are like the "Salsa Verde" supplier for half the county it seems like. I even send three of those large flat-rate Priority boxes filled with whole tomatillos to my Mother-In-Law in Oregon. I grow mine in their own "special" area because of how they re-seed and try to maul all of the other plants. They really love the spot...I have had some that got nearly 10 feet tall. As an aside...I always leave a few on the ground for the Chiipmunks...they just love them! Mine are growing in a pile of basically nothing but 10 year old horse manure. I run the tomatillos through my tomato mill and everyone comes and gets a 5 gallon bucket of sauce ready to make into Salsa Verde and can (I am not nice enough to do all that for them....) In my area in Mexico, they grow all over the place. The Mexicans use them in many more ways than we do. They even ferment them and make a liquor sauce. I have not gotten the recipe for that yet although I did taste some and WOO WOO...it was potent!

[mdvpc]

Broke:

Where in Mexico?

[Mjdtexan]

Originally Posted by brokenbar

I grow about 50 tomatillo plants every year. I love them but they are the sprawlers of the garden and it seems like I am tieing them up every day. You have to use thick twine 'tho because they are not as tough in the stem as tomato plants and thin twine will slice right through a branch. I actually start mine about 4 weeks from setting out. The reason is because these suckers grow like weeds (which, in my new home in Mexico, they are...) If you start them at the same time as tomatoes, I have found they quickly out-grow the container and try to smother everything else. They get really spindly quickly. I might suggest a couple of other varieties..."Grande Maje" and "Cizneros" and also "Burpees Gigante". These varieties get as large as a small orange and are much less work than the little 1" dudes from smaller fruiting varieties. ALthough as of yet, there is no large fruiting purple varieties that I am aware of.

These re-seed RAMPANTLY...I put black plastic under mine and try to keep any fruits that fall picked up. They just spread their weeny little seeds all over the place and nothing seems to phase them. They are not self-fruiting so you need several for pollination. When the husks start to turn brown, these have a tendency to leave the plant so constant picking is a good idea (although they do not bruise as easily as tomatoes) especially if you are in a zone that gets a lot of wind.

I use "Stock Panel" or some call it "Hog Panel" to tie them to. They get branches going in every direction and really, these grow faster than one might imagine. It really is a constant chore to confine them. Growing them along a fence line would be ideal.

If you will visit the Tomatillo Thread on this forum, I have posted many recipes and growing tips. My harvest would never be complete without Salsa Verde...my family eats it on everything.

Thank You

Mike

[brokenbar]

Originally Posted by mdvpc

Broke:

Where in Mexico?

Outside of Merida on the Yucatan Peninsula. I did not want to live on or very near the beach because beach "dirt" sucks! . Bought the house which is about 2,000 sq foot, 2 story , small pool, good well on nearly an acre (there were already several fruit trees and Avocado trees) for 19,000. We remodeled the house from the bottom up for 7,000 because labor is so cheap. And when I say "remodel" I mean it needed MUCHO amounts of work. It had not been lived in for about 15 years. This area is one of the largest "Pasta Tile" producing areas in Mexico so we have tile throughout the entire house. My husband traveled all over Mexico buying furniture, dishes, rugs, etc .

Both he and I grow a garden (I only do tomatoes for my sun-dried business, he grows other tomatoes and everything else.) We are also both avid deep sea fishermen. I also have nearly 200 orchids indoors here so I will be thrilled to be able to grow them outside.

[Mjdtexan]

Originally Posted by brokenbar

Outside of Merida on the Yucatan Peninsula. I did not want to live on or very near the beach because beach "dirt" sucks! . Bought the house which is about 2,000 sq foot, 2 story , small pool, good well on nearly an acre (there were already several fruit trees and Avocado trees) for 19,000. We remodeled the house from the bottom up for 7,000 because labor is so cheap. And when I say "remodel" I mean it needed MUCHO amounts of work. It had not been lived in for about 15 years. This area is one of the largest "Pasta Tile" producing areas in Mexico so we have tile throughout the entire house. My husband traveled all over Mexico buying furniture, dishes, rugs, etc .

Both he and I grow a garden (I only do tomatoes for my sun-dried business, he grows other tomatoes and everything else.) We are also both avid deep sea fishermen. I also have nearly 200 orchids indoors here so I will be thrilled to be able to grow them outside.

You guys must have a 99 year lease on that property or something like that or one of you has citizenship rights in that country.

Your sun-dried business, what is that all about? You sun dry tomatoes? People like that? Sounds very interesting.

[brokenbar]

Originally Posted by Mjdtexan

You guys must have a 99 year lease on that property or something like that or one of you has citizenship rights in that country.

Your sun-dried business, what is that all about? You sun dry tomatoes? People like that? Sounds very interesting.

Mexico changed the rules and you can now buy land/houses/businesses. Actually, in Merida, The government just released nearly 200 houses in the Colonial District for sale. They want Foreign owners to restore them. Most were built in the late 1800's and have the 20 foot beamed ceilings and original pasta tile floors. Because of our economy, Mexico is struggling. They changed the rules to bring in more foreign investors.

Sun-Dried business..."Sun-Dried" is now the term for dehydrated tomatoes. While I do actually "sun-dry" about 1/3, I dry the others with conventional dehydrators. I sell to chefs at upscale restaurants in Billings Montana and Cody, Jackson Hole, Cheyenne Wyoming. I mail deliveries.
I dry anywhere from 1000 to 2000 pounds per year. I soak mine in red wine for 24 hours prior to drying and then dust them with my grown herbs, oregano, basil, parsley and garlic powder and sea salt. I only grow dry, meaty, few seeded and large varieties (because large is faster and easier.) I grow 500+ (and it is ALWAYS "+" it seems!) plants.

Unfortunately...the Chef's are now reading about sun-dried tomatoes and varieties and are starting to ask me to grow particular varieties. They read that Principe Borghese is supposed to be "The Ultimate" drying tomato and harangued me into growing them. I charge nearly triple because they are small, seedy, a pain to keep picked and it takes so many to get a significant amount of finished product. They don't care and will pay whatever I charge. Same with the "Black" varieties...they read about the ALLEGED "smokey-salty-earth" flavor of Blacks (which is a crock if you ask me) and now I grow those for them and charge double...

I took me about 2 years to develop a good client base. I drove "door-to-door" to every upscale restaurant around. I gave away a lot of samples at first. I have also collected hundreds of recipes and I printed up a collection that I gave to Chef's as well. Once they discovered how much flavor sun-dried tomatoes can add to a recipe and the eye-appeal they provide, the tomatoes sold themselves.

As we are leaving for Mexico for good in May, my Son, who is taking over the ranch/cattle operation here will take over that business as well (his girlfriend will actually.) It has been a great little business and I really enjoyed it. Heck...I was going to grow tomatoes anyway!!!!

[Mjdtexan]

Thats good they've changed the rules for foreign buyers. I have never been around sun dried/dehydrated tomatoes before. I am planning on getting one of those cheap dehydrators this season for hot peppers so I am going to have to see what thats all about. Thank You for the explanation.

[brokenbar]

Originally Posted by Mjdtexan

Thats good they've changed the rules for foreign buyers. I have never been around sun dried/dehydrated tomatoes before. I am planning on getting one of those cheap dehydrators this season for hot peppers so I am going to have to see what thats all about. Thank You for the explanation.

No problem Mjdtexan!

[DiggingDogFarm]

Originally Posted by brokenbar

As we are leaving for Mexico for good in May, my Son, who is taking over the ranch/cattle operation here will take over that business as well (his girlfriend will actually.) It has been a great little business and I really enjoyed it. Heck...I was going to grow tomatoes anyway!!!!

I hope you'll still be able to participate in the forum, I appreciate your posts!


~DiggingDog

[brokenbar]

Originally Posted by DiggingDogFarm

I hope you'll still be able to participate in the forum, I appreciate your posts!


~DiggingDog

Yeah...I will. I was not able last summer because we were so busy re-modeling the house and traveling all over Mexico. We also made a trip to Ireland and a trip to Egypt. My son did the whole garden here...first year in my life I did not have a garden! I am going to have to completely start from scratch in Mexico...probably will have to grow totally different varieties and figure out best planting times, etc. Where we will be has a year round temp of about 85 and is humid in the summer. They grow GYNORMOUS tomatoes and peppers there. You go to the street market and there is just box after box of incredible produce. I will have to find my "niche" there...I have only ever grown tomatoes for drying... I grew up on a ranch on the California/Mexico/Arizona border and have wanted to go back to Mexico my entire life. I just love the country and as I am a HUGE archeology freak (I am talking reading about 2000 books....) Mexico has so much to see (as did Egypt WOW!) We are also going to do more traveling...Venice in October and next spring, Beijing catching a cruise that goes to other ports in China, Japan, Viet Nam, Thailand, Russia and eventually, back to British Columbia. We have a nice family that lives near our place in Mexico and the Father is taking care of our house, fruit trees and other stuff so we will be able to travel. And I LOVE this forum and will always be back!