Free Seeds

Free seeds, well almost free seeds. That caption will probably draw some hits to my blog.

Last fall my wife returned from the local Farmer's Market with a small bag of ground cherries. She said she had sampled some, and they tasted a little like pineapple. Well they did, kind of, but they had a strawberry taste also.

We liked them so much I decided to crush a few and save the seed, just to see what would happen. I dried the seeds on a paper towel and placed them in a small zip lock bag, and then promptly forgot them completely.

When the Jung Seed catalog arrived I saw a photo of the berries, and recalled that I had saved the seeds from ours. It took awhile but I managed to find them in my seed stash, and started a few in rockwool cubes. Sure enough, in just a few days the seeds have germinated. The photo is from Jung's site and the description is also:

"Low spreading plants produce an abundance of sweet fruits that resemble Chinese lanterns. Excellent for pies and preserves with a strawberry-like flavor. Harvest when the husks are dry and fruits are golden-yellow. Also known as 'Cape Gooseberry,' 'Husk cherry' and 'Strawberry Tomato."

The point being; my seeds were completely free, and there are other "free" seeds available, if you look for them.