mcd
gopher
Posts: 7
|
Post by mcd on Jan 9, 2012 21:55:57 GMT -5
I'd like to grow one of these plants this year but I don't know much about them. I'd appreciate any comments you might have. Which tastes better? Which would you grow and why?
|
|
|
|
Post by castanea on Jan 9, 2012 22:35:53 GMT -5
In my experience Physalis peruviana is vastly superior to any of its relatives, but there are people who disagree with me.
|
|
|
|
Post by atash on Jan 10, 2012 0:27:05 GMT -5
Oh good, because I'm planning to grow some P. peruviana. I'd like to see if it will cross to its hardier cousins.
|
|
|
|
Post by canadamike on Jan 10, 2012 0:46:51 GMT -5
I tend to agree with castanea, but sometimes, given the best of seasons, the other one can be amazing. I just moved 300 miles from where I was, I'll try them both here this summer I hope, if I can find an acre to grow, and will decide. Peruviana tended to be later for me, giving jewels but loads of unripened jwels to be too, a frustrating situation, our falls are now more summer look alike than they used to be, it is worth a new test here. As I am growing older, I am developing a deeper foundness for physalis, and now we can find them all year long in grocery chains here, Quebec is opening to them, wich suits me very well. They call them ''L'OR DE LA TERRE'' ''earth's gold'' in english, one guy grows 50 acres commerically close to here and now we get them from Chile out of season... Speaking of physalis, I have a TOMA VERDE tomatillo on my kitchen counter right now, I took it out of its skin in early september and put it there just to see how it would keep in a less than ideal situation, it still looks beautiful and is becoming yellower. There are now since last week some signs of dehydration, so I will taste it soon. I knew about the long keeping qualities of physalis, kept many for a few months, but it was in the skin and cold storage (let's call it cooler than on the main floor storage in September, before true cold weather sets in  ) Is the ''physalis revolution'' only a thing in Quebec or is it a continental thing in North America??? |
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jan 10, 2012 1:04:17 GMT -5
Is the ''physalis revolution'' only a thing in Quebec or is it a continental thing in North America??? I tried tomatillos for the first time about a year and a half ago. They were in the grocery store so I bought some. I really liked them. I've eaten quite a few since then. I even grew some!!!! |
|
|
|
Post by castanea on Jan 10, 2012 1:04:28 GMT -5
Peruviana fruits could be found all over Vancouver BC in October. Some were sold in the husks but many had the husks removed. They were all pretty good. Hardy kiwi fruits were very common also.
|
|
|
|
Post by khoomeizhi on Jan 10, 2012 5:56:19 GMT -5
the flavors are different, for sure. pruinosa is milder and sweeter, when dead ripe takes on a bit of a butterscotch flavor. great for drying, as it concentrates the flavor. seen people make pies or jelly with them, but it apparently takes a huge amount of sugar to taste like anything... peruviana has more sour elements to it, a more complex flavor. never had enough to do anything other than eat out of hand.
in my area, if peruviana isn't planted inside really early (read: more than the 6-8 weeks before last frost i've seen suggested), ripe fruits start trickling in very late, and like canadamike noted, many never get there. overwintering one this year, we'll see how that changes things...pruinosa, i've had ripe fruits in early july.
found a wild physalis this past year (maybe clammy g.c.?) with green fruit and a purple tint on the skin that was fantastic - really amazing tropical fruity flavor. will be trying to grow some of those out this year (and depending on flowering, may try to cross with the other two)...
|
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Jan 10, 2012 6:30:33 GMT -5
I really like them in the garden, not sure what species I've got that volunteers. I believe we originally planted Aunt Molly's.
A few of the vendors at my market bring them. I have a hard time seeing how they could be an economical crop due to labor intensive picking. Since the plants are prostrate they are even worse than cherry tomatoes to pick and the signs of ripeness are more subtle until they are "falling off the plant" ripe. Once they fall they are of course perfectly fine to eat but the husks get moldy/discolored and wouldn't look good on the stand.
I have similar issues with tomatillos but at least they are larger and you pick them green so picking labor is much less. I'm also experimenting with the "giant" tomatillos like Plaza Gigante and Cisneros. If I can find/select a short season giant strain then tomatillos will be worth growing.
|
|
mcd
gopher
Posts: 7
|
Post by mcd on Jan 10, 2012 20:37:33 GMT -5
hmm, I'm in Durham, NC which is a lot warmer than the western mtns, so peruviana would probably produce ok for me. But ripe fruit in early july is hard to pass up, maybe I should just try both though...
|
|
|
|
Post by Leenstar on Feb 1, 2012 21:45:08 GMT -5
I really like them in the garden, not sure what species I've got that volunteers. I believe we originally planted Aunt Molly's. A few of the vendors at my market bring them. I have a hard time seeing how they could be an economical crop due to labor intensive picking. Since the plants are prostrate they are even worse than cherry tomatoes to pick and the signs of ripeness are more subtle until they are "falling off the plant" ripe. Once they fall they are of course perfectly fine to eat but the husks get moldy/discolored and wouldn't look good on the stand. I have similar issues with tomatillos but at least they are larger and you pick them green so picking labor is much less. I'm also experimenting with the "giant" tomatillos like Plaza Gigante and Cisneros. If I can find/select a short season giant strain then tomatillos will be worth growing. I put a cardboard collar around the bottom on to which the ripe ground cherries fell. This worked great in a a garden fenced. My new garden is squirrel over run. I didn't get a single one, as all were lost to the squirrels. I expect squirrel droppings in in the surrounding yards to be producing vast quantities of volunteers... |
|
|
|
Post by samyaza on Feb 4, 2012 12:37:33 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by atash on Feb 4, 2012 14:33:48 GMT -5
I was told, and always just assumed, you don't harvest them until they fall off. The husks keep them in OK condition for a few days. I imagine they're more suited to small-scale production than large-scale.
I think the plants should be bred to be more upright.
|
|
|
|
Post by khoomeizhi on Feb 4, 2012 16:09:27 GMT -5
samyaza - not much like that subglabrata - that looks to be much more like a tomatillo. the one i found has a small (not bigger than 2cm at the biggest) fruit like pruinosa - stays in its husk, doesn't burst it. it's nowhere near that purple, either - didn't phrase it too accurately before. green flesh, green skin, with just a hint of purple (like you sometimes see on a tomatillo that doesn't really turn purple all over) in just a few spots. that purple one looks interesting all the same...
oxbow, in my experience, the key to taking husk toms to market is sampling. a bit of spottiness is fine on husks if people can see that the fruit looks and tastes fine underneath.
from what i've seen, the husks keep them in good condition for months, potentially, even in a very dry house.
|
|
|
|
Post by toad on Feb 5, 2012 13:42:24 GMT -5
I just wonder, if ground cherries could be harvested with a vacuum cleaner with a little adaptation? I mean, they fall to the ground before you want to pick them, it's mostly a question of how you quick and convenient gather them. Love the taste of them
Does anybody have surplus of seeds of Physalis heterophylla and/or Physalis subglabrata ?
|
|
|
|
Post by wildseed57 on Feb 5, 2012 13:49:02 GMT -5
I really like ground cherries along with purple tomatillos, they can really take over things, I use them in a number of Mexican dishes and sauces. I wonder why no one has tried to improve on them. maybe something larger, sweeter with less waxiness. My grand daughters loves them raw, I'll have to look up the purple ground cherry, I wonder if it would cross with a purple tomatillo?
George W.
|
|
)
