Ground Cherries make me giggle!
Ground Cherry (Physalis peruviana), also called strawberry tomato or husk tomato, is not a true tomato. This low, bushy plant bears round yellow fruit about the size of a small cherry inside a thin, paper-like husk. Native to the Central & South American tropics, there are several wild and domestic species, but the most flavorful is generally referred to as the giant ground cherry or cape gooseberry. Ground cherries have a delicious sweet fruity flavor often likened to pineapple. They will grow in poor soil and need little care; follow procedures for planting and growing tomatoes. Harvest ground cherries when they have turned yellow and become a little soft. Expect about 75 days to maturity and about 2 pounds of fruit from each plant.
From Growing Your Own Vegetables, by Carla Emery & Lorene Edwards Forkner, 2009 Sasquatch Books.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Love your blog. Such good suggestions, advice, photos – all of it.
My great-grandmother used to make ground cherry preserves, and I remember them as the closest thing to ambrosia. Thanks for reminding me of a sweet bit of nostalgia. Do you grow yours from seed, or what? I think this is something I need to pursue.
Ummmm, preserves! That would be so delicious. I got seed for these plants from Territorial Seed. This is the first year I’ve grown these in quite some time but I have a friend here in the Pacific Northwest who considers these lovelies to be almost a pest as they reseed themselves so readily. She just weeds out what she doesn’t want and reaps a delicious harvest off of the rest. Enjoy