Month: July 2011

Pleasant Street resident Jenna Howard has agreed to provide updates on the tomatoes, squash and other vegetables growing in her plot at the new Burnham’s Field Community Garden. The reports and photos will allow GoodMorningGloucester viewers to follow the garden’s progress with a weekly answer to the question, “What’s New in Jenna’s Garden?”

By Jenna Howard

Week Four

This week was THE week for tomatoes! The tomato plants are growing like wild — literally. I had to use gardener’s Velcro to keep the tomato plants in their cages and stop them from shading the other veggies. Lots of cherry tomatoes appeared this week. But even more exciting was the sight of the tomatillos. For those who aren’t familiar with the tomatillo, it is basically a tomato that grows in a green husk. Pretty cool, right? And these tomatoes are perfect for making salsa! Tomatillos are "self-incompatible," which means they need another tomato plant nearby for proper pollination. Lucky for my tomatillo there are plenty of others around which is probably why we already have so much fruit.

Here is a yummy salsa recipe using tomatillos. Enjoy!

Tomatillo Salsa Verde

Ingredients: 1 1/2 lb tomatillos, 1/2 cup chopped white onion, 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, 2 Jalapeño peppers (stemmed, seeded and chopped), salt to taste

First remove the papery husks from the tomatillos and rinse well. To roast the tomatillos: Cut in half and place cut side-down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under a broiler for 5-to-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin. Put tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, chili peppers and sugar in a food processor and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator and then eat up!!