Ground cherry

A little fruit in a paper husk that tastes like pineapple met a cherry tomato, gathered off the ground from late July to frost. One plant produces steadily for months and asks almost nothing.

Growing

Same nursery schedule as the tomatoes: indoors in late March, into the garden after May 12. One plant fills a 5 to 7 gallon bag and then pours over the sides; the habit is a low sprawl, so a bag edge or bed corner suits it. Do not pick from the plant. Ripe fruit drops in its husk and turns tan on the ground, and anything pulled green stays green; a sweep under the plant every day or two is the whole harvest routine. Water on the dry side of the tomato routine; it fruits happily at a moderate ration and takes a missed day or two in stride.

Varieties

Aunt Molly's is the standard and hard to beat; Goldie is nearly identical and runs a touch larger.

Pests

Flea beetles pepper the early leaves with pinholes, but a transplant-sized plant outgrows them without help. The husks keep nearly everything else off the fruit.

In the kitchen

Husked and eaten standing in the garden, mostly. A pint that makes it indoors cooks into a jam closer to apricot than anything a tomato relative should manage.