Growing your own tomatillos — what I learned in year one

Year one of growing tomatillos. The thing nobody tells you upfront: you need two plants for pollination. One plant will flower and produce no fruit. I found out the hard way in July with one beautiful plant that was blooming but setting nothing. Other things I learned: they grow large, spread fast, and need staking earlier than you expect. The fruit is ready when the husk is completely papery and the fruit inside is firm — not soft, firm. Slightly underripe tomatillos have more acid and better flavor for salsa verde than fully ripe ones. Fully ripe are sweeter and better for eating raw.