Comments on: Cult Fruit

By: Deb Robillard

Deb Robillard — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:12:15 +0000

Hi, Stephenny

We grow ground cherries commercially in Ontario Canada, they do very well, although we treat them as annuals, we do get a lot of volunteer plants coming up from previous years…..they grow like little weeds and are very bushy and very hardy. They are beautiful little jewels and do very well in anything I’ve tried them in, pies, preserves, salads, etc. Good luck with them!

By: Fresh Ground Cherry Salsa « Straight from the Farm

Fresh Ground Cherry Salsa « Straight from the Farm — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 14:48:03 +0000

[...] cherries that I know you are all dying to know more about. These funky little fruits were good in Ground Cherry Pie, but they are amazing in Ground Cherry Salsa! It’s like Mother Nature herself had a hankering [...]

By: Husky « Artsy Fartsy

Husky « Artsy Fartsy — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:24:34 +0000

[...] wesites recommended jams or pies, and almost everone recommended dipping them in chocolate. I’m not all that fond of pies, [...]

By: Suzane Watkinson

Suzane Watkinson — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:53:06 +0000

Hey, where in Cambridge can I find them ?
I am over near Tufts

My grandmother grew them in upstate NY when I was little, and she moved with us to Ohio in 1960. I remember going around with her to the Ohio garden places looking for seeds for “sweet tomatoes that grow in their own paper bags” It was clear by our reception that Ohio farmers thought we were nuts, and the fact she had a thick French accent just made things worse.

I am in an apartment and have been for years, and I gave up long ago looking for seeds.

Thanks bunches for the recipe, soon as I find some I shall make it.

By: Jennie

Jennie — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:31:31 +0000

Stephenny – Thanks for the compliment! I’ve seen blog posts from Seattle for ground cherries so I’m pretty sure you can find them at a farmers market or grow them yourself if you have that luxury. Let me know how you like them…

By: Jennie

Jennie — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:26:25 +0000

Hopp – Yep, from what I’ve read, ground cherries re-seed themselves readily so we’ll both probably be having plenty more next year too. I’m not complaining.

By: stephenny

stephenny — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:16:50 +0000

Hi There, I stumbled across this post and just want you to know that your photography is beautiful! I am very eager to look into this fruit and see if it’s able to tolerate the Seattle climate. I look forward to trying out the recipe. Thanks

By: Hopp

Hopp — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:09:07 +0000

My ground cherries are going wild too… and I’m going to have lots of new plants in the spring…

By: De in D.C.

De in D.C. — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 05:59:06 +0000

Thanks for the advice/commiseration Sharp and Jennie. I grew two tomatilla plants and used the same trellis system I do for tomatoes (wire fencing, hooked horizontally onto posts). I have to say that they are massive plants; easily 8′x8′ each! I was expecting something more akin to a tomato, lol.

I’ll try doing 4 plants next year and I’ll give them the entire 5′x6′ bed that they’re in now (currently sharing it with hot peppers and basil) and forgo the trellis to see how it things go.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 05:47:26 +0000

These are not the same as gooseberries that are commonly used in desserts which are Ribes uva-crispa. But you are close in that the ones pictured above are called Cape Gooseberries (physalis), because they were cultivated on the Cape of Good Hope ( apparently ) in the 1800’s.

This little fruit grows very commonly here in my home town ( Dunedin New Zealand ) although now, not many people would know what to do with it. Thanks for the inspiration