a tale of ground cherries

as an experiment i grew ground cherries this year. i also grew pineapple tomatillos, but as it turns out, they look and taste the same.



this is what the bushes look like in my garden. i had no idea they'd get that tall. i had to prune them back to keep them from smothering the neighboring plants.

tomatillos


ground cherries


you dont pick them off the plant, you pick them up off the ground. otherwise they're not ripe. they're not very big.


peel off the paper cover




its a bit time consuming to peel them all, and since my kitchen table is currently covered in crap, i set up on the floor. i had a captive audience.


or perhaps i should say a nosy and hopeful audience


one bucket equals one bowl. and puppy says never give up hope. both dogs thought they tasted fine and wanted more.


sweetpea enjoyed them tremendously


they were perfectly bite sized


but i wont be growing them again. it is a HUGE hassle to get under the overgrown plants to pick up them up off the ground one by one, and then peel them one by one. i simply dont have the time or energy to waste when there are so many other things in my garden i could focus on.

and the taste, well thats hard to describe. its kind of a slightly pineapple slightly tomato flavor. its sweet, but not very. it has tiny seeds in it that i spit out, like grapes used to have when i was a child.

everyone i've had taste them (myself included) says they're not sure if they like them or not, but then refuses a second taste. except the dogs and the tortoise of course.