#ClimateChangeGardening #ClimateDiary #ClimateChange #FoodSecurity #Gardening #permaculture #NativePlants #food #cooking #foraging #organic #sustainability #hurricane #Tropicalstorm
This thread is about plants that I tried this year and won’t try again next year as well as ones that did really well.
East coast North America, zone 8/9, rainfall 120cm.
*Updated with pics
8/ I do not grow tomatoes bc of pests, diseases, nutritional demands, water hogs, animals stealing the fruit, not doing well in tropical storms and hurricanes. They’re just too demanding.
I grow the native ground cherry instead. Physalis grisea, they have a tomato flavor after heating. They do not need extra water or fertilizer and produce well. Survives storms. May look battered but keeps producing. I cultivate these for personal use and give the seeds away for food security programs.
@jblue “May look battered but keeps producing” describes my whole garden. 
@jblue I just recently saw Dried ground cherries being sold as a gourmet food by a specialty shop. Could be the next big thing!
@docdieterlen yeah, they’re physalis peruviana species. They’re 2.5 times bigger than grisea and are much more tart. The native ones do dry but they’re really very small, not much bigger than currants when dried. Both species are very seedy so when you eat the dried berries it’s like crunching down on mostly tiny hard seeds. You don’t notice it when they’re fresh.
@jblue the gourmet shop pitched the seeds as part of the appeal, believe it or not. No idea whether they are selling many. They weren't cheap.
@docdieterlen Whole Foods sells them under their house brand, 365 under the name goldenberries. I’ve seen them regularly discounted, full price online is $8.69 for 227g. Honestly, they’re not super glorious and it’s easy enough to grow them yourself. They require almost no care.
@jblue exactly- I've grown them in the past and you are right- super easy. If the Dried ones take off as a fad, we gardeners could all have a nearly effortless side business :)
@jblue I grow tomatillos (Physalis ixocarpa) for many of the same reasons. I'm not a fan of eating them fresh, but I enjoy them cooked & I love them fermented.
@jblue this one looks very interesting to me. I might like to try it.
@deepmud are you on my list for free seeds?
@jblue I'm not sure. I garden in the pnw. It's kind of cool here.
Oooooh! I’m zone 8. What’s your list for free seeds? (Ground Cherry) Haven’t figured out how to DM. ha-ha
@GrancyGreybeard
The first link is to the food security+climate change project.
And the second link is to the ones that I sell.