- Do you know what these are?
- Do you think they are edible?
- Do you think they are beautiful?
- Have you ever seen them before?
- Have never heard of the term “sustainable food?”
Comment below and let me know!
My answers are yes, yes, defiantly, not until 2 weeks ago, and yes.
As you probably know we set up at Whole Foods Bellingham on Mondays afternoons (4-7) and YES, we WILL BE THERE this Monday – Labor Day! At this market I have had the pleasure of meeting all sorts of wonderful people: farmers,artisans, and shoppers. Among those folks are the lovely Davis family from Long Life Farm. Laura brought these amazing “things” to the market 2 weeks ago. They are Ground Cherrys. When you tear open the paper-thin shell there is this incredible little cherry tomato like fruit inside! “Ground cherries (Physalis spp.) are native in many parts of the United States and often grow along roads. The plants have large, deep green leaves and tons of pale yellow flowers that develop into cherry-sized fruits.” (Ground Cherry) The ones that Long Life Farm grew, and I got the delight to find out about and taste, are Aunt Molly – A Polish heirloom with a captivating citrus flavor. Laura told me she got the seeds from Seed Savers, another delightful discovery to me, and now the wheels of sustainable food are churning!
Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds. Since 1975, our members have been passing on our garden heritage by collecting and distributing thousands of samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners. “Our mission is to save North America’s diverse, but endangered, garden heritage for future generations by building a network of people committed to collecting, conserving, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants, while educating people about the value of genetic and cultural diversity.” -http://www.seedsavers.org/
If you get a chance to buy these at your local market GO FOR IT! Yum and fun. If you are lucky you may find them at Long Life farm stand on Mondays in Bellingham (the outdoors Farmers Market in front Whole Foods) or the Saturday morning market in Ashland. To find out more: http://www.longlifefarm.com
Now don’t forget, let me know if anybody knew about these little delights in the comments!
