Sunday, July 19, 2015

Pineapple Tomatillo or Ground Cherry?

I was at the Master Gardener Plant Sale this May and purchased a plant I had never seen before called a pineapple tomatillo.   I looked it up on the internet before I bought it and was intrigued by the description.  This plant grows like a tomatillo only it has a denser habit and tastes like pineapple! I am a sucker for anything tropical tasting so I took the plant home with me, hardened it off and planted it at the garden when the danger of frost passed. It is growing well with tiny husks the size of nickles and fruit inside those husks the size of blueberries.  It takes regular water and is not bothered by many pests at tall.  When the husks turn a golden brown they are ready to be picked.  I noticed these tiny fruit tend to drop off the plant as they ripen, the fallen fruit are perfectly ripe and should not be discarded.

As I was munching on the fruit and doing research for this post, I ran across several articles that label this plant as a ground cherry.

I am not sure what I have grown but it is delicious and does taste like pineapple, not many of them make it home as I tend to eat them out of hand as I pick them.  



No comments:

Post a Comment