JUNE 2009 - Tithonia & Tomatillo

Tithonia and tomatillo -- two not-well-known plants which share easy-to-grow characteristics, but not much else except excellent reasons to make room for them in your yard and garden (and they both begin with the letter 't').

Tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa) is a heat-loving member of the nightshade family which includes the naturalized ground cherry (Physalis pruinosa) and the ornamental Chinese lantern (P. alkekengii). The fruits of all three are encased in an inflated, bladder-like covering called a calyx.

Tomatillos will produce abundantly on poorer soil; grow as you would tomatoes with perhaps less nitrogen. Too much fertility may result in rapid growth and foliage at the expense of fruit. Provide support for the plants which grow 2 1/2 to 31/2 feet high, a more spindly and more sprawling plant than tomatoes. Take heart if the plant tips over and lays on the ground: the branches put forth new roots when contacting the soil!

A long-season crop, start seeds indoors in April, or buy starts and set them in the ground when the soil is warm. A soil-heating mulch will ensure a quick start. Tomatillos are indeterminate, which means they keep growing, producing flowers, then the bladders inside which the fruit forms, until killed by a frost or freeze.

Begin harvest when the husk or bladder splits and the green fruit starts to turn yellow (or purple, depending on the variety, or falls to the ground. Tomatillos keep well at room temperature and will slowly continue to ripen and sweeten off the vine.

Tomatillos are the authentic ingredient of the original salsa from Mexico, not tomato-based salsa with which many of us are more familiar. If you have a favorite salsa recipe, try tomatillos in it next time. Chopping and stir-frying tomatillos brings out a sweet, caramel-like flavor. If you like fried green tomatoes, here's a chance to try fried green tomatillos! Find fresh-picked tomatillos at farmers' markets starting in August.

My first Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia) was given to me years ago by fellow gardener, Sarah, and now I can't do without the Torch variety. Torch was an AAS medal-winner way back in 1951, and it's still a winner today. Need a plant that shouts to passersby, "HEY! HERE I AM! LOOK AT ME!"? Well, this it! Torch grows 4 - 5 feet tall and will stretch its arms (okay, branches) close to the same width as its height. Dark green leaves contrast exceptionally well with the hot, fiery orange to orangey-scarlet 3-4 inch ray and disk flowers. Like tomatillos, Torch will sit and sulk in the ground until the heat is on -- when summer officially arrives, Torch takes off and puts on its show beginning mid-summer and pouring it on until frost. Tithonia is an annual, like tomatillos, so be sure to save seeds for next year.

Can't find seeds or plants this year? Visit the Calhoun County Farmers' Market to find these and a whole lot more. The market is open each Wednesday through October from 8 AM - 1 PM at the Upper West Fork Park, Rt. 16, Chloe. Each Saturday the market is open from 10 AM - 2 PM at the Sugar Shack, Routes 16 & 33, Arnoldsburg. A free composting class is scheduled at the market on Wednesday, June 17 at 11 AM. For market info, send an email to calcofm@yahoo.com. Please come and say you saw it in Two-Lane Livin' . . .