ground cherries

ground cherries are great,
they are yellow berries that grow inside little paper lanterns,
don't eat them when they are still green or it will make you sick to your tummy,
but when the paper shell drys out they have usually turned color and are sweet and tasty
mine are still green and not dry

and some are still blurry, but they should be in focus by the end of the season. (I need another camera for close up shots)

anyway,
they are a nightshade family and grow lots like tomatoes or potatoes, so easy to grow.
when I first had one I was so very happy with it that I wanted to just farm them for a living,
so I ordered 10K seeds for them and started planning, I started sharing them with friends and co workers,
then I found out that only about 1/3 of the others out there really liked them like me...
I do get excited about things early and often

they self seed very well and you will likely only have to plant them once to have them every year,
I have not planted them in 4 years and have had lots every year, and this year is no exception

there are lots of wonderful foods that just are not currently very popular in the USA,
but people in russia and india can get them at bakeries, so they are out there in the world,

if you leave them in the paper after you harvest them, they will last for quite a few weeks,

here is where I got the seeds
http://www.seedsavers.org/onlinestore/groundcherry/Ground-Cherry-Aunt-Mollys-OG.html
and many other places have them,
and there are other varieties of them out there (I have 3 others)
but this one is very good and grows well

and now for a pile of sleeping kitty picture