I tried growing them last summer for the first time. I wasn't successful, but my recollection is that what little fruit I had occurred after the tomatoes.

I grew tomatillos in 2012 with only 1 plant. I had 8 tomato plants, though. I kept them through summer and pulled them up when I was eventually sick of tomatillos and wanted to rest the bed.

I haven't grown tomatillos, but I have grown Ground Cherries, which I understand are very similiar. I found that they self pollenated fairly well, the flowers are small and underneath the leaves, facing straight down toward the ground. I just gave them a good shake every few days to shake the pollen loose and they set fruit all summer long.

Cygnwulf,
How do you prepare the ground cherries? I have a bed full of them and want to try salsa verde. I ate one last year plain and in the garden, nice crisp taste.