[Summer 2018 – Columbus, OH]

Cape gooseberry is an easy to grow and low maintenance plant. Once you grow them in the garden then each year they will grow up automatically in summer. We didn’t grow them from seeds; they voluntarily grew and spread like a weed. They pop up everywhere during the summer, so it is worth trying to identify them before weeding. Although cape gooseberry is native to Peru and Chile, now it is a common plant in many more countries. They have widespread in most of the Asian countries like a weed. You can easily find them on the balks of the paddy fields of South and Southeast Asian countries. Some other common names for this fruit is ground cherry or cherry tomatillo. This plant is a little bit similar to the tomatillo plant, but both the fruit and the plant are smaller in size.

This little fruit has a sophisticated taste. For me, it has a mango and pineapple mixed taste. This fruit is rich with vitamins A, B & C and provides dietary fiber. If you have an excess harvest, you can make jam to enjoy the summer flavors during the winter.

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