Ground cherries

[Aubergine68]

Anyone ever grow them? Esp in a square foot garden?

I just bought some Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry seeds and need some tips!

[MorganRiley]

i have never heard of them...

i only had cherries growing in trees before!

[jocelyndale]

Yep. I've grown pineapple tomatillos. Very yummy. I usually just let them spread (they're viney, like tomatoes), but they do well when trained to a pole or trellis.

[spring978]

They reseed very easily so expect them year after year. Treat just like atomato or pepper growing wise. They make yummy jelly..

[Aubergine68]

Thanks!

[Aubergine68]

Well. I planted some in different spots around my yard, including under an apple tree with some mint, in a sunny bed by the house, and in planter boxes with tomatoes and zucchini. They did EXTREMELY well everywhere and they are very yummy. Wierd to be able to grown something in my zone 3/4 garden that tastes like citrus and pineapple!

I don't think I'll plant them in the square foot beds again because they just out-compete my tomatoes and zucchini (believe it or not). They grow up high to get the sun and practically jump out of the boxes. My ds2 calls that part of my garden "the jungle"

Googling recipes for ground cherry preserves!

Next year, I'm going to try planting them in my front yard, under some problematic shade trees as ground cover and see how they do.

[Scribe]

We never planted them, but they were all over the garden when I was a kid, volunteer. My grandmother used to eat them, but my mom never fixed them, she said they were too sour.

[GISDiva]

One of my favorites as a kid was groundcherry/apple pie, they go well together. Mmm...

I don't often find people who know what these are!

[MeadowSong_]

I want to plant these next year, do they taste more tomatoey or more fruity?

[spring978]

the variety I have is very fruity. Ds2 eats all the cherries we can find every day in the garden.

[Aubergine68]

More fruity, but you have to let them really ripen. When the husks are papery and brown and the fruits are yellow-orange, then they are ready. I've been picking the fallen fruit and letting it ripen further on screens for a few days. Nice that the husks keep the fruit clean!

People I've shared them with either love or hate them. Those who dislike tomatoes usually don't like them, even though they are definitely a lot fruitier than tomatoes. I don't go for cherry tomatoes or raw tomatoes, myself, but I like the ground cherries, though.

Thanks for the tip about the ground cherry/apple pie!

[BaBaBa]

What's the difference between ground cherries and chinese lanterns? I'm not sure what I planted.