By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

As a parent and teacher I am always looking for that magically “teaching moment.”

Cinco de Mayo and the new series on the History Channel called America the History of Us started me thinking.

I have always planned and cultivated a culturally diverse garden.

Tomatoes, greens, peppers, onions, squashes, and many other edible plants have graced my land but none were ever native to my land.

Some have been heirloom plants whose seeds were carried across the seas by immigrants looking for a better life.

These immigrants came to America, to the melting pot of the world along with their hopes, traditions, and food. We as a society cannot separate pure “American Cuisine” without tasting, biting, and sampling something that was not native to America.

Our own culinary taste buds have become accustomed to the melting of cultural cuisine to form the American diet. So this year in remembrance of Cinco de Mayo try planting some cultural diversity in your tomato garden. This can be done by planting a plant that looks like a tomato but its fruit has a unique appearance. What could this be one may ask. The answer is simple the tomatillo or husk tomato.

How to Grow

Steps

1. Start seeds as you Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

As a Southern California native, I’ve long known about the existence of the tomatillo.

This tomato relative is used in Mexican cooking a lot.

If you’ve ever had Chile Verde or Salsa Verde, you’ve eaten the tomatillo.

Other name for the tomatillo include ground cherries, toma verde, and husk tomato. The last comes because the fruit is covered with a papery husk. The most common color you will see is green (verde in Spanish), but there are also varieties that are yellow and purple.

If you already know how to Read the rest of this entry »