Special Medicinal Adaptogen Fruiting Garden Plant Video with Michael ~ Cape Gooseberry

Here's a video we shot with Michael Pilarski about a neat superfood you can grow with lots of names.

Some call it Cape Gooseberry. It's a high protein adaptogen superfood.



Click here to learn more about medicinal plants you can grow in your garden or food forest: http://organiclifeguru.com/course/how-to-grow-a-medicinal-food-forest/

Cape Gooseberyy is also known as:

physalis peruviana
golden berry
husk cherry
incan berry
ground cherry

We have been growing these for several years now. They are a wonderful little berry that have been very popular at farmers markets. The only fault I have with them is in Northern climates they don't get enough time to ripen properly. You might be able to harvest half of the fruits but the rest usually stay green until they get frosted and die. We have tried to ripen green berries off the plant but it doesn't work too well.

I would highly suggest anyone in zone 5 or lower start them inside at least a month before you plan on planting them out. Or growing them in a greenhouse; we have had great success with that.

I didn't realize their medicinal properties, I just thought they were a tasty treat Thanks for posting.

the physalis family rocks!

purple tomatillos, green tomatillo, pineapple tomatillo, cape gooseberry, among others.

theres a few that arent edible, but most all of them are edible and healthy. some of them are also perennials, actually i think cape gooseberry is one of the perennials in a warm climate. even the annuals are self seeders, so they keep coming back. super easy to grow, adapt to a lot of climates, but they do like it hot.

I've been surprised this isn't a more popular permiculture plant, I have the cape gooseberry variety self seed all over the place as well as our native clammy ground cherry, which is perennial and spreads by runners. The cape gooseberry is larger, tastier, and taller. The perennial version is more productive, low spreading, but has a stronger wilder taste to it.
I'm going to spend some energy this year trying to proliferate both types in the corners of my garden and orchard, maybe do some fermenting with the clammy ground cherries this fall.