Groundcherry?

@JVD There are quite a few wild ones around here, too. Think they’re P. virginiana, but I’ve never found a ripe one—critters undoubtedly get them. The Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America lists several native species as well as naturalized pruinosa and notes that all are “pleasantly sweet.” I believe the rule of thumb with toxic alkaloids and ground cherries is: if unpleasantly bitter, don’t eat it. Experimental Farm Network sells seeds for a “Denver Perennial Ground Cherry,” a possible P. virginiana or a hybrid, which the collector describes “as ‘sweet and tasty,’ similar to the common annual varieties of ground cherry”:

I doubt any of these could be as productive as cultivated annual pruinosa, however. If you’ve never grown it, do try growing it sometime; all the named cultivars available in the US taste similar, so doesn’t really matter which. The berries are great fresh—and make a standout pie.

@steveb4 I got the seeds via Ebay—from someone in Moscow, I believe. In the current geopolitical climate, it might be hard getting hold of another packet. Don’t worry, though: I’m going to grow these out this season and, if all goes well, I’ll save plenty of seed and will mail you some. Happy to help out a couple of fellow ground cherry fans! :slight_smile:

@Aglevin2 Will do! Maybe we’ll find out what they are eventually—and whatever that is, I just hope it’s good! Did you grow any ground cherries last year?

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I’ve read about them being edible in my field guides, just like prairie turnips and Jerusalem artichokes and others. I read that as, “Technically edible. Tastes horrid. Better than starving.” Haha, I could never develop a taste for them.

I’ll give them a shot this fall.

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got all my seeds at rareseeds.com. one of the easiest plants to grow. i had a few in not-so-great soil and they still grew and fruited abundantly. the ones i had in great soil produced hundreds of g. cherries. im glad they come back from reseeding. im going to let them establish in my food forest.

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Yes I grew quite a few! I grew Aunt Molly, cossack pineapple, Mary’s Niagara and the denver perennial from experimental farm network. The only notable differences were that Aunt Molly’s grows a bit more upright and Mary’s Niagara is quite a bit earlier fruiting (so much so that the plants growth was stunted due to early fruit development). The denver perennial was quite a bit different, the plants were an entirely different shape and didn’t really develop side branches so it didn’t sprawl like normal pruinosa cultivars, instead it grew straight up to about 8-12 inches and then just started putting out tons of flowers. Unfortunately they don’t seem to be self pollinating like pruinosa cultivars so even though there were plenty of flowers and eventually husks, they were empty. Im now planning on trying out some peruviana cultivars.

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Thanks for the report! That’s the first one I’ve heard on the Denver Perennial. Perhaps it does better after a season of establishment? Of course, it could indeed need a pollenizer. I’m not sure about the differences in ploidy, but (assuming they were nearby) the presence of the pruinosa cultivars obviously didn’t do the trick.

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Any noticeable differences in flavor between those varieties?

I grew 4 plants of Cossack Pineapple last year and they were incredibly productive and quite tasty. They started off very slow to germinate and grew slowly in early spring. After I got them in ground in May and the soil temps warmed up, they grew well and never seemed to have any disease or pest issues. Harvesting them was annoying since they grow low to the ground (a raised bed or tall pot/planter would likely help with this). The productivity was great though and they are easy to de-husk and freeze well for long-term storage and use in baked goods. They are pretty nice to eat frozen too, especially during summer. I can’t remember exactly when they started ripening but I think it was late July and they just kept going til cold weather set in in autumn. I’ll likely grow 2-3 this year since 4 was just to much to keep up with.

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Blockquote Thanks for the report! That’s the first one I’ve heard on the Denver Perennial. Perhaps it does better after a season of establishment? Of course, it could indeed need a pollenizer. I’m not sure about the differences in ploidy, but (assuming they were nearby) the presence of the pruinosa cultivars obviously didn’t do the trick.

@JeremiahT It could be either, although i will say the plants were healthy and vigorous growers with flowers 2-3x the size of pruinosa. I made sure they were getting pollinated (with their own pollen) with no luck. Unfortunately I ended up removing them as I have very limited space and am excited to try other physalis varieties. I recently spoke with a contact in Germany who will be sending me a bunch of varieties of physalis that I had previously been unaware of. The ones I will be trying first are physalis minimia (a variety named sunberry) which is suppose to have the same general growth habit as a pruinosa but taste similar to peruviana aka goldenberry. They are suppose to be a very pale yellow with tiny purple speckles. I will also be trying a giant peruviana variety that is suppose to grow berries twice as large as standard peruvianas as well as a peruviana that is supposedly the sweetest of all the physalis. Of course these are claims from the nursery my contact is purchashing them from so we can only guess what they will truly produce. In addition, as you stated earlier, I can’t help but feel that the naming schema is probably off and I wouldn’t be surprised if the physalis minima is just another variety of pruinosa.

Blockquote Any noticeable differences in flavor between those varieties? I grew 4 plants of Cossack Pineapple last year and they were incredibly productive and quite tasty. They started off very slow to germinate and grew slowly in early spring. After I got them in ground in May and the soil temps warmed up, they grew well and never seemed to have any disease or pest issues. Harvesting them was annoying since they grow low to the ground (a raised bed or tall pot/planter would likely help with this). The productivity was great though and they are easy to de-husk and freeze well for long-term storage and use in baked goods. They are pretty nice to eat frozen too, especially during summer. I can’t remember exactly when they started ripening but I think it was late July and they just kept going til cold weather set in in autumn. I’ll likely grow 2-3 this year since 4 was just to much to keep up with.

@TJ_westPA I didn’t notice much of a flavor difference, I believe @JeremiahT at some point stated that he found most flavors similar as well. I read on some nursery site that New Hanover ground cherry may taste better but nurseries often make these claims to entice us to buy more seeds. I haven’t tasted that variety. But I completely agree with you, I was shocked at how productive these plants are, each plant can grow 100s if not 1000s of berries depending on the length of your season.

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seen a vid where 2 ladies planted 10 ground cherry on a mound in a 4’ x16’ raised bed. they covered it in garden fabric and the cherries would drop and roll down the mound to the edge of the bed for harvesting. im doing that this spring.

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@Aglevin2 Very interested in hearing how your physalis trials go! They are a fun and surprisingly diverse genus . . . I may have to grow tomatillos one day, just for the full experience. Never did care for salsa verde—guess that’s why I never tried them. :slightly_smiling_face:

@TJ_westPA I’ve grown several, and they’ve all been similar in taste. The standout to me has been “Mary’s Niagara,” not so much because of the flavor but for its earliness. I did grow “New Hannover” a few years ago, and I’m sure it was good—but I don’t remember it being markedly different from the others. Might try it again one of these days—there are probably still some seeds hiding in the freezer. The only two commonly available US varieties I think I haven’t tried are “Loewen Family” and “Drotts” from the Seed Savers Exchange:

https://www.seedsavers.org/category/ground-cherry

“Drotts” especially might be worth a try, because it also looks to be an earlier ripening type. Lately, I’ve just been selecting seed from garden volunteers for health and productivity—no idea of the parentage!

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Thanks for the info @Aglevin2 & @JeremiahT!
I almost forgot that I bought Amarylla tomatillo seeds from Baker Creek that I’ll be growing this year. They are early ripening, turn yellow, and are supposedly rather sweet and fruity. It got me wondering if they would be similar in taste to ground cherries but with more acidity and larger fruit.

@steveb4 That sounds like a very smart and efficient way to harvest them. I don’t have a raised bed, nor do I want to construct one, but maybe I can mound the soil in my garden in the spots where I plant them to achieve a similar effect.

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just make a little cup at the bottom to catch the fruit. should work fine.

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@JeremiahT Ill make sure to update this thread when I eventually get the seeds and see results from them. If anyone is interested, for the ones that end up being any good, id of course always be happy to share seeds.

@TJ_westPA If you try them raw, let us know. From my experience id be surprised if it was a good fruit to eat out of hand but it would be pretty exciting if it were!

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Well, here’s an update about that mysterious “Turkish Delight” groundcherry. It’s definitely not going to be an early producer; it’s only now beginning to bloom and set a few fruit. And it’s a slow, very compact grower. I’m definitely no expert, but, based on pictures I’ve seen, it looks like P. peruviana—the “Cape gooseberry,” aka “poha.” Maybe those of you with more knowledge of physalis morphology can make something of these pics.

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Yes… :+1:

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This looks very similar to a plant that grows wild in my backyard. I pulled some of it out, but maybe I’ll leave one and see how it develops. It has roughly the same shape of leaves, the fuzziness, the yellow-black blossoms and also the “capes” around the fruit. I never noticed that it produced particularly large fruits. It’s below a powerline, so whatever it is birds probably brought the seed from somewhere else. I get all kinds of random stuff coming up underneath the powerlines.

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It can turn wild very easy… i don’t plant mine.

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Thank you for the update! I’d have to agree, definitely looks like a pervuiana both in leaf shape and calyx shape/coling.

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Well, that’s a little disappointing; I was hoping I had something unique and special. (Doesn’t everybody? :grin:) But I guess it works out in the end: I’d been thinking about trying peruviana, but mislaid my pack of seeds over the winter.

I grow tomatillos. They sprout easily from seeds too, but they are easy to manage. I believe they are closely related to groundcherries. They’re great for salsa verde and pozole. They’re also good in curries and chutneys. The green ones are more sour and the purple tomatillos are quite a bit sweeter than the green ones.

I imagine the ground cherries could be useful in similar ways too. Sweet fruit is underutilized in savory cooking and can really add something special, in my opinion.

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There is a surprising amount of diversity in peruvianas including growth, fruiting, taste characteristics. I wouldn’t be discouraged just because its a peruviana!

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