A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

Physalis minima. My goodness the plants produce by the hundreds! Smaller than the average ground cherry, a bit sweeter with purple speckles. A nice perk is the fruits don't fall. It's a wonder that this type of ground cherry is so uncommon. Prettier, sweeter, more productive. I do miss the sour twang that a slightly unripe Aunt Molly's has though!

 

[P Suckling]

This is attractive indeed with the speckles. And the not dropping trait is a bonus, but do you have to open each husk to see whether the fruit is ripe with this one?

 

[flowerbug]

...
The bear flipped the enclosure she was in, and broke some of the pine boards to get to her. He had to work that cage for awhile, it's astonishing the strength they have. It is very unusual for such a thing to happen, we've used that enclosure for 10 years without ever having a problem and innumerable bears walk through here regularly every season.

wow! so sorry for that happening.

they are very strong and get a lot of nourishment from tearing apart rotting logs looking for grubs/worms/beetles...

 

[heirloomgal]

wow! so sorry for that happening.

they are very strong and get a lot of nourishment from tearing apart rotting logs looking for grubs/worms/beetles...

Thanks @flowerbug , yes I see that daily in spring on the bush trails we walk, the torn apart stumps and rotting trees when they're after bugs. They don't seem to do that as much mid summer and fall, not here anyway. The blueberry crop this year was huge so I'm sure was a help to them. Ever since the spring bear hunt was banned their numbers are increasing significantly, and I'm sure that puts pressure on what food is available for them.

 

[heirloomgal]

This is attractive indeed with the speckles. And the not dropping trait is a bonus, but do you have to open each husk to see whether the fruit is ripe with this one?

No, you can tell by the husk color how mature it is. And I'd say these tend to mature really fast, way faster than the other species. Probably 85% - 90% of what is out there is dead ripe right now, just because they tend to ripen en masse it seems.