What do you think? Is it Physalis?
I have been off on vacation, and truth be told, it has not been so relaxing for me. I am a naturally wound up guy, so relaxing is a bit of a hard thing for me to do. Panic attacks, fear of dying and the works. Goes to show you that your health is in your mind as well.
So, I have to learn to truly relax. I have not posted much in the last few days because I needed to get my mind off of cooking for a couple of days.
Truth is, I don’t have much in the way of hobbies other than cooking, and I guess that can be unhealthy. I guess my garden counts as a hobby, albeit a neglected one. Well, nothing takes the mind off a sharp chest pain like weeding.
Today I actually sat down and watched a couple of videos in an attempt to find out why my San Marzano tomatoes are not preforming like I would like. One plant totally is sucking wind, and the other is a bit overgrown. I found a cool, short video describing what to do – pruning your tomato plant to 2 lines. I hope I have not screwed my plant up too badly now.
My yard also looks like a jungle. I am sure the neighbors appreciate the work I put into ripping out the waist-high thistles, dandelions and other nameless wonders. All the dog manure is picked up, ready to go, and even the herbs are properly clipped.
I was in a corner of my lot cleaning out what looked like some weird vines when I stumbled onto something that blew me away. I use Physalis all the time, (AKA ground cherries, cape gooseberries,) and I was startled to see vines growing on the ground. Thing is, I never planted them before!
Here are some crappy pictures, can you all tell me if I am right about this?
Excuse the beer shorts... Here is a shot.
I am so excited, if I am right, accidental gardening is an awesome thing! Now to figure out how to make it grow better.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m not familiar with Physalis, but you can certainly search the internet and find similar-looking photos – some have different coloured flowers but the basic shape of the flower looks the same to me. Wikipedia says that they grow in poor soils and need lots of water during their fruiting season.
I’ve certainly have had tomatoes grow from seeds left in my garden the season before. Is this plant near a compost pile? The only problem usually with volunteers (or accidents) is that some varieties need a head start in our growning zones (I’m in Muskoka, Ontario) and therefore the volunteer is often a month or so behind the same plant you would prepare for your own garden by starting early in March or April or the ones you get from the Nursery. But with the nice summer we’ve had this year, that might not be a problem unless we have an unusually early frost
/Cathy
@Cathy – I am pretty excited about my find, even if they don’t produce that much. Indeed, they are close to my compost pile, so that is probably where they came from. I am thinking to put up a trellis, and make a nice garden wall.
For what they can produce, I have a nice recipe for chamomile groundcherry jelly that would be nice. They also do well in preserves and savory applications as well.
Hi Jason,
Yep, thats definelty Physalis. I grew them on my balcony last year and they were so productive that quite a few ended up in the soil, this year they are germinating everywhere! Just wait for the “lanterns” to start to turn brown and they start falling off the plant. Happy growing!
@Jon Green – Wow, thank you for the comment. I am hoping they come back in this year, because I have some plans for them!