I used to make it, but haven't for some years now. I also grew the cherries, very easy plant to grow but can spread if not kept in check. Later I just bought the fruit from local Amish stands. Thanks for a nice memory.

I've never eaten a groundcherry.

Are these the same as I sometimes see in Trader Joe's labeled something like golden berry?

I've never had a ground cherry and no one I know has grown them. Or at least grown and shared them )

We ate - and do eat - several wild berries all my life - not this one.

Morz and Dave together reminded me of Summers at our friends’ ranch, a bit South of Washington, picking the wild blackberries by the road. Pie, of course. ;) The brambles scratched, but not quite enough to fetch protective clothing...

I looked at a photo, this is something I hadn't heard of. I'm not sure these are grown in my area.

Never had them in a pie, but I remember finding them growing as weeds in empty lots when I was a kid and snacking on them. There wouldn't have been enough for a pie, tho. They're related to tomatillos, I believe.

Are huckleberries related? Family lore is I adored huckleberry pie when I was very little.

'Ground cherry' is a name given to various members of the Physalis genus. They are closely related to tomatillos and have a slightly tart, picante flavor. So not precisely a fruit in the same manner that tomatoes are not a fruit :-) You can include them in salsas, salads or turn them into jams or pies.

They are sometimes referred to as Cape gooseberries too but that is actually a different species of Physalis. FWIW, they are not related to any bramble berries (blackberries, etc.) or to gooseberries, currants or huckleberries or other Vaccinium.

Elmer, they are native to North and Central America and can be grown anywhere here as an annual but do not constitute a commercially viable crop so are seldom seen outside of gardens or farmer's markets.

Nope. I've never even seen one.

Plllog, I have an old elbow length leather/canvas rose gauntlet glove I wear on my left hand when picking blackberries. I can pull the worst of the stickery vines out of the way of my right picking hand.

Our huckleberries here on the coast are mostly the red variety. I don't find them as flavorful as the blue more commonly found further inland and higher. We rarely have the opportunity to pick the wild blue.

Physalis, with their dried ’wings’ they are occasionally used as a garnish on desserts in up market restaurants here. I have tried to grow them when someone gave me seed but no luck.

I’ve never tasted ground cherries and would be interested in doing so. I have a hard time time imagining that I would like a pie made from these but I’m not much of a pie eater.

I've never heard of a ground cherry so I looked them up. We had a weed that grew where I leved when I was little that produced some little fruits that looked like tomatillos. They were pretty small. I wonder if those were possibly ground cherries. No one ever ate them, but maybe we could have. We ate plenty of other wild plants.

I do remember them, although Grandma mostly made jam from them or we'd just eat them straight from the garden. We also had pies from gooseberries and from June berries, now known as a saskatoon. I did see some ground cherries at Whole Foods last week, but they were over $6 for less than a pint, so it would make a very expensive pie, I think.

Plllog, we often picked blackberries in the National Forest and Grandma would make blackberry dumplings or cobbler. We didn't worry as much about the thorns as we did about the bears, LOL.

Annie

I've never tasted "ground cherries" and have only seen them in photos. Since they are related to tomatillos, and they look exactly like tomatillos, I can't imagine them having any different taste or texture. Is it like comparing a cherry tomato to a beefsteak?!