Ground Cherries

Ground Cherries

I learned about ground cherries--a relative to tomatillos and tomatoes--and I was intrigued.  I never tasted one before, and I have so much success growing tomatillos.

I ordered some seeds and planted them in the garden in the spring.  I only got one plant to sprout.  I wasn’t very surprised about the bad gerination because you are supposed to start them in the house and then transplant them, but my house is really too cold to start most seeds.  You are supposed to do the same with tomatillos, but driect sowing worked for them--why not their cousin?

So, in a sense, my project was a failure.  I transplanted some tomatillos into the area since I had too many of them sprout and moved on.

Months later, I saw a ground cherry on the ground.  That is when you pick them; hence the name.  You still have to wait a couple weeks before you can eat them because they are poisonous in the beginning.

It was worth the wait  imagine a little yellow berrie about the size of a blueberry that tastes like pineapple!  I have picked a few dozen of them over the summer.

I will not give up.  Next year, I will try planting them again.