Ground cherry surprise Update

[cwhit590]

Rosalind - congrats on getting the ground cherries this year! What did you end up doing with them?

I planted some this year and we had tons! We ate some fresh, and used some in salsa too. I've heard they reseed themselves well once you get them going...

I started some early this year in the greenhouse. They like it to be very warm before they germinate...my seed took 3 weeks to germinate!!! I started getting worried after awhile, but they came up...in their own sweet time.

 

[seedcorn]

OK, for the uninformed, what do you do with ground cherries? Can anyone describe what they taste like?

 

[vfem]

OK, for the uninformed, what do you do with ground cherries? Can anyone describe what they taste like?

I am lost to this too... I saw some on a food network show they baked with... but I had NO idea what they would taste like. I'd be interested in growing some myself.

 

[Rosalind]

Well, I froze mine because I am short on time this month. And sanity, but that's different.

Was planning to cook them in light sugar syrup and use them to fill turnover pastries. Maybe with a sweetened cream cheese filling?

They smell a bit like strawberries & peaches. Taste kinda citrus-y. Sour, they need sugar, but like a sour orange. Texture is weirdly like tomatoes, which is why I thought they'd be better blended with sugar and cooked into goo for a pastry filling.

Edited to add, passionfruit seeds, that is what they taste like. Very much like passionfruit seeds.

 

[cwhit590]

They are neat little fruits!

The taste....complex and hard to describe! Citrus-y, sweet...like Rosalind said the texture is like a tomato, and they almost seem to have a hint of acidity to them? It's weird! Pale yellow ones that aren't super ripe tend to be more sour, really ripe golden-yellow ones are very sweet...sometimes the flavor reminded me of a gummy bear!!!

They are used for fresh eating, pies, preserves, etc.

I wasn't quite as wild about them as I thought I would be...they were pretty good fresh, and we tried them baked into little cakey-things...pretty good but very sweet. I've heard the pies and preserves are great...but never got around to making any....:/

 

[Greensage45]

Hi,

I have just searched and searched for any 'official' reference to any wild ground cherries that would be poisonous and I cannot find anything. Even Mother Earth News only says that they should be ripe, and that the way to determine the species is by the fruit colors; brown, yellow, red, or purple.

One reference mentioned a species in Asia that can cause a tummy ache!

Although, all the sites I visited stated that the unripe fruit is toxic (just as an unripe tomato is), and that to use them ripe only.

Funny because Tomatillos are typically eaten on the unripe side, but I am guessing they are also cooked down.

Well, as a kicker, here where I live they grow in such abundance I could literally walk and crush billions of them. I sort of like doing it once the plants are dried and the pods 'Pop' when I squash them. You should hear me out there walking the dog.... Pop pop pop pop poppity pop, pop pop pop. LOL

It never occurred to me to harvest them. I remember when I moved in my landlady pointed them out, but I wasn't quite in on what she meant. LOL To be honest I always believed them to be poisonous.

Ron

 

[cwhit590]

Well, as a kicker, here where I live they grow in such abundance I could literally walk and crush billions of them. I sort of like doing it once the plants are dried and the pods 'Pop' when I squash them. You should hear me out there walking the dog.... Pop pop pop pop poppity pop, pop pop pop. LOL

Ground cherries sound like Ron's version of bubble wrap......can't.........stop.......popping!!!!

 

[Greensage45]

Yes, exactly! Bubblewrap is a perfect way to describe them.

I am going to go see if there are any ripe ones out there right now and see if they are sweet, tart, or bitter.

I wish I knew this last year, but figuring I popped myself to oblivion I should have pop-ulated them even more! LOL

Ron

 

[cwhit590]

Yes, exactly! Bubblewrap is a perfect way to describe them.

I am going to go see if there are any ripe ones out there right now and see if they are sweet, tart, or bitter.

I wish I knew this last year, but figuring I popped myself to oblivion I should have pop-ulated them even more! LOL

Ron

LOL!

I thought the best tasting ones were the clear, golden yellow ones. Cloudy yellow = not so sweet, Greenish yellow = sourish....Green = toxic!

 

[patandchickens]

I have just searched and searched for any 'official' reference to any wild ground cherries that would be poisonous and I cannot find anything.

That is because the wild poisonous ones are not *called* ground cherries, they have other names If you look up wild solenaceous plants that LOOK LIKE ground cherries you will find a variety of things you oughtn't be eating.

They make really good preserves.

Mine were a pineapple-tasting variety, although with some faint odd-but-not-problematic hint of sweet tomato taste as well. I never got enough ripe at once to be able to make preserves or a pie, and was hindered in my attempts to freeze each day's new ripe ones by the fact that my son eats them off the bush while waiting for the schoolbus

Next year I will plant a few more, in large containers that can sit on the hottest part of the front deck, and hopefully have less cold and cloudy weather, so may be able to squeeze a pie or couple jars of jam out of 'em despite Harry's best efforts <g>

Pat