Friday, August 14, 2009

Tomatillo Processing Continued: Seed Collecting

As you faithful readers already know, I've been obsessed with tomatillos this year. I've grown about 16 lbs so far from four plants. At this time, it appears that the tomatillo plants are gearing down their growth cycle, no new flowers, no new top growth, and a general tired/worn appearance. I sacrificed the one plant about a week ago; and besides its 5 lbs of lush fruit to be picked, it also left behind some not so lush fruit on the ground to complete its Darwinian cycle. And like Paul Simon said, "who am I to go against the wind?"

I picked up these haggard ground fruits and brought 'em indoors to harvest their seeds. From what I can tell, they would of wanted it this way (apart from being moved from where they lay). I got out the trusty blender and churned out some old tomatillo pulp. Water and gravity helped in the process of separating the pulp from the seeds. As I ran running water into a bowl with a spout, the seeds sank and the pulp filtered out of the bowl. Eventually, I was left with seeds and clear running water. The water was poured out; the seeds were placed on a plate, dabbed with a paper towel, and left to dry for several days. I have several hundred seeds now. I'm not sure if tomatillos need a dormancy period, but I'm going to try to germinate some anyway.

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