How To Grow and Use Ground Cherries (With Recipe) (2024)

FAQs

What can ground cherries be used for? ›

Groundcherries are often used as a decorative garnish in desserts. Add them to a fruit salad or dip them in chocolate for a special treat. They can also be baked into a crisp or clafoutis, and they make a great jam! Groundcherries can also be substituted for green tomatoes and used in salsa, ketchup or chutney.

Common ground cherry is closely related to the tomatillo, and its fruits are edible, too. Ground cherry is closely related to tomatillo; they are in the same genus, and both have edible berries covered by a papery husk. The tart berries start out green, turn yellow, and fall to the ground.

Plant after the last chance of frost, once spring has warmed the soil. Space plants 24 inches apart in full sun, although they'll tolerate some afternoon shade in hot climates. Mix compost or other organic matter into the soil of in-ground gardens. Ground cherries sprout roots along the stem, so plant deep.

Well-grown ground cherries can produce more than 100 fruits per plant. Provide tomato cages or other supports to help provide stability for the big, bushy plants.

Ground Cherries aka Husk Cherries

Some describe them as a cross between a tomato and a pineapple. Others say a mix between a tomatillo and a grape. Since their flavor profile is somewhere between sweet, sour and umami, they work well in savory dishes as well as in desserts.

Clammy Ground-Cherries had medicinal uses, too. A leaf and root tea was consumed for headaches or was used as an emetic. The roots and the leaves were also used as a wash for scalds and burns or as a poultice for wounds. The seeds were used as a diaphoretic, a diuretic, and for inflammations.

It is important to note that all parts of ground cherry plants except the ripe fruit are toxic to people and pets. Unripe ground cherries are sour and contain solanine and solanidine, both of which are toxic compounds. In small amounts these can cause nausea, diarrhea, and stomach cramps.

Do ground cherries come back every year? Ground cherries are grown as annuals so the same plants won't come back but they reseed themselves prolifically. To prevent ground cherry seedlings from popping up all over your garden, harvest all the fruit and remove any that has dropped to the ground.

Ground cherries are part of the 'nightshade' family so practice crop rotation to reduce disease problems. Verticillium wilt can cause yellowing and wilt on ground cherries. Insects – Cutworms can chew stems of young transplants at the soil line. To discourage, place a strip of paper around the young stem.

Similar to tomatoes and tomatillos, ground cherries will grow roots all along their stems and do best when planted deeply. Remove leaves along the bottom ⅔ of the stem, and plant ground cherry transplants deeply, leaving just a few leaves above the ground.

When should I eat ground cherries? ›

Expect ripened fruit from late summer through autumn. Usually, fruits will ripen ten to eleven weeks after transplanting outdoors. The ground cherry fruit, a berry, ripens inside its husk. Then the beige to tan papery husk holding the berry falls to the ground.

Tomatillos produce best with two plants for pollination. They are the essential ingredient for salsa verde. Ground cherries are a smaller sweet version of tomatillos that can be eaten fresh or used in fruit salads and cobblers.

How to Save Ground Cherry Seeds. Ground cherries typically produce hundreds of fruit on each plant so you need to plant only one ground cherry plant to yield viable seeds.

Ground Cherries are relatives of tomatoes, and once husked are eaten raw, in salads or desserts, dried or made into jams. Sometimes called cape gooseberries, winter cherries, or husk tomatoes, ground cherries are small yellow fruits with a papery husk.

The fruit is edible raw or cooked, as in pies or preserves. The fruit can fall from the plant before it is ripe. That usually takes a week or two or more until the husk has dried and the fruit a golden yellow to orange. Each fruit is wrapped in a husk that is NOT edible.

Though they look quite similar to cherry tomatoes, all parts of the horse nettle are poisonous and can cause abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and death. Tell Them Apart: Horse Nettle has large spiky prickles on its stems, while the Ground Cherry only has thick, stiff hairs.

Harvesting Ground Cherries and Cape Gooseberries

If the fruit is still green, it's unripe. Don't eat it. That's because, like it's nightshade kin, the stems, leaves, and unripe fruit contain things that can upset your stomach. Don't eat green fruit, they contain toxins that cause stomach upset.