Under ideal conditions, ground cherries drop when ripe, and those are the ones which are eaten. They should never be picked off the plant. If ground cherries fall from the plant prematurely (the green ones) they will not ripen further with time... green ones stay green. Premature drops can be caused by dry soil, rough handling, strong winds, or heavy rainfall. A couple days of strong thunderstorms knocked many of mine down this week. Green ground cherries should not be eaten. They won't kill you, but will likely cause upset stomach if you eat too many. I've eaten a few half-ripe ground cherries mixed with ripe ones, and had no ill effects. Its worth mentioning that while the green ones should not be eaten, the seed within is mature. If the green ones are thrown on the ground, many seeds will germinate the following Spring... maybe even hundreds. That's why I never have to plant them. ;-) ....(The same can be said of tomatillos.) Other than cutting off a branch that was in the way, I've never trimmed ground cherries; but I don't see why not, as long as it is less than 1/2 of the plant.

Can you give us a botanical/Latin name Nancy? If you're talking about Physalis edulis, a small relative of the tomatillo family: I let them ripen on the vine until they're yellow. Most get eaten while I'm in the garden. I bury the ones the birds get to first in one place, mark it, and have seedlings for next year. Surplus? Substitute for apples in any pie recipe, but I'm not sure about acid/pectin content when making jam.

Thanks for helping me out. I may try all of the suggestions if I can harvest them before the frost. Today is out as I am committed to go out of town. (Ever find yourself wishing you could sometimes play things hour by hour? I often do, but it seems that often after making a commitment there is something teasing me to cancel.) gardengal48 -- I bet I could do that dill pickle operation on the firm green mongrels. I usually try to make filled green beans (dilly beans) every summer, but haven't gotten to it this year. I hot water bath the pickled beans. Is that how you to your green cherry tomatoes? Is the recipe pretty much like the dilly bean recipe -- green beans, garlic clove, dried red pepper, dill weed, white vinegar, I think picking salt? I may want a Bloody Mary after all my garden and kitchen work. ci-lantro -- I absolutely love Tex-Mex food. Double that if it's got cilantro in it. I make a lot of Southeast Asian food as well. There is a Thai sea food salad that is very similar to civiche. I often make quickie burritos and, yes, I can see how your roasted tomato-peppers-onion sauce would work nicely. Do you slow smoke-roast the veggies outdoors or roast them in a pan in the oven? I may try roasting in my wood-fire grill (Char-Griller -- lid closes so it can act like a smoker). I'll have to experiment with the bizillions of tiny unripened ground cherries. Last year I envisioned a sort of ground cherry - cranberry - chili salsa (with lime juice if refrigerator fresh) Thanks again. I'll try to follow up with photos. ETA -- see the small green and (ripened) yellow tomatoes? These were volunteers that ended up in a front perennial garden, and I just let them be. There is a bird table there and on it I place seeds from old seed packs and various seeds culled from kitchen prep -- squash, tomato, melon, older nuts and sunflower seeds. I suspect that over the years, some of the volunteers got together. Perhaps a yellow pair cross pollinated a sun gold or a plum tomato. Some of the older seeds (outdated seed packs) were viable, including some micro greens and mustards. The ground cherries are everywhere, but need more sun than they get in the bird tray area.

Thanks all for the responses! I pinched the couple of buds that were on there. Still hardening off for another day or two. I am going to plant them out on Wednesday. So do you folks think these plants will continue to grow up, despite the early flowering? Seed packet says 2.5 to 3 foot tall plants! I was hoping for a lot of ground cherries :) Yours look nice icyhound! So I guess this is no cause for concern? Or is there a chance that this is it for these guys? Thanks again for the help!