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Wild berry could become the next strawberry


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Am I the only one picturing Professor Van Eck in a Dr Mengele-style leather trenchcoat, experimenting on stawberries because he's disgusted by the texture of their large pores and bright red colour?

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We have them. They are called tomatos.

I gather them and use them in my tomato sauce. My people used them as tomato sauce and they are seedy as all hell. 

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12 minutes ago, Piney said:

We have them. They are called tomatos.

I gather them and use them in my tomato sauce. My people used them as tomato sauce and they are seedy as all hell. 

Wait are you talking about cherry tomatoes or groundcherries? Ive never had one and it definitely looks like a sungold but its obvious from the leaves that its not. Where do you get them from?

Ah! I was curious what the plant looked like so i looked it up. I have seen those growing around here i thought they were like paper lanterns or some kind of tomatillo never tried eating one.

Edited by Nnicolette
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Just now, NicoletteS said:

Wait are you talking about cherry tomatoes or groundcherries? Ive never had one and it definitely looks like a sungold but its obvious from the leaves that its not. Where do you get them from?

All tomatoes evolved or were bred from groundcherries (tomatillos). They originated in Patagonia during the Cretaceous.  

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4 minutes ago, Piney said:

All tomatoes evolved or were bred from groundcherries (tomatillos). They originated in Patagonia during the Cretaceous.  

Ok so that explains my confusion... ive always called them tomatillos. Definitely wouldn't call it a wild berry but i guess it is... makes great salsa verde anyways.

Edited by Nnicolette
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i misread the heck out of the title as "wildberry" without the space and was wondering what mad science had been commited to make

Quote

A combination of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and/or other berries. Used in ice cream and other food products, as well as in cosmetics.

an actual plant

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why next strawberry?? what is so significant about strawberry? i tried strawberries in other countries, they taste much better, ours are like tasteless grass, but boy they are huge.

 

Edited by aztek
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1 hour ago, aztek said:

why next strawberry?? what is so significant about strawberry? i tried strawberries in other countries, they taste much better, ours are like tasteless grass, but boy they are huge.

 

Yeah i dont see how its in any way comparable to strawberry. The ones in the grocery store are gross but i assure you there are great strawberries in this country you just have to shop at the farmers market or grow your own rather than buy the the mass produced ones.

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I have some wild strawberry plants on my balcony and I can tell ya that these little fruits are tasty like no other fruit I`ve ever eaten.

Fragaria vesca

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i think it may have to do with soil, the best fruits\veggies i ate was in Ukraine, their soil is pitch black, has a lot more nutrients than our half clay half sand mixed with rocks soil. about every single fruit and vegetable tasted so much better there.

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I would hazard a guess of why the next strawberry is because strawberries are one of the most, if not the most, popular berry that is commonly available at somewhat reasonable prices year round. Most other berries either aren't as popular or are much more restricted seasonally (and price wise accordingly) compared to strawberries.

I like ground cherries- I've grown Aunt Molly's on occasion. And tried purple/Cape? ones too- to my understanding the two are different kinds of physalis.  And yep, ground cherries got a messy and sprawling habit and "drop factor" that I understand why they aren't popular with commercial growers. I like tomatillos too. I think part of what makes tomatillos more popular is they are bigger and better known within a cuisine niche.

For folks that might not be aware of what this nightshade is... Ground cherries and tomatillos while both husked nightshades are very different in taste. And both of them are quite a bit different from their tomato cousins- but to make a tomato comparison, it's kind of like comparing sweet little currant or grape tomatoes with the fruity/citrus notes to larger and more acidic/bottom rounding meaty heart of paste tomatoes.

I'm not sure what to think about the CRISPR gene adjustments. I guess it might depend on what is being adjusted. If it's something more like plant structure to make them more friendly to grow, like what has been done through hundreds of years of tomato husbandry to make sprawing plants into more upright, stockier, and commercially harvestable..  Or the breeding that has made blueberry and gooseberry plants more friendly to pick. I might not object too much. If they tried to tinker with the fruits so much I would object more- I really do like how ground cherries are already, don't need to change that.

 

 

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9 minutes ago, toast said:

I have some wild strawberry plants on my balcony and I can tell ya that these little fruits are tasty like no other fruit I`ve ever eaten.

Fragaria vesca

The wild strawberries here hybridized with the ornamental ones the yuppies were planting around their McMansions. They taste like  stryrofoam.   Thank god they won't let us do any controlled burning.( Like the morons out West)  and after another nice super fire ( which actually revitalizes pinelands) they won't be here anymore.

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8 minutes ago, rashore said:

I like ground cherries- I've grown Aunt Molly's on occasion. And tried purple/Cape?

The purple ones grow wild around here. :yes:

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2 hours ago, aztek said:

why next strawberry?? what is so significant about strawberry? i tried strawberries in other countries, they taste much better, ours are like tasteless grass, but boy they are huge.

The guy who titled the article was clueless considering the article was about the nightshade family.

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Just now, Piney said:

The guy who titled the article was clueless considering the article was about the nightshade family.

pretty much, too often these days we get writers who write about things they have no idea about. i'm thinking i should write a book on liberal feminism, i have no clue what that is, i'm neither liberal nor feminist, so i'm qualified, i'll call it "shades of a number 50", and i'll sue Kelly Marcel for stealing the name \ idea  from me,

Edited by aztek
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I've never had a groundcherry.  What i found interesting about Strawberries here in the US, was most of the strawberries come from California and are grown in February! The only reason I know this is I was on a business trip to CA in Orange County.  I was expecting to see fields of oranges and instead saw fields of strawberries.  Most strawberries are picked green and start to ripen on shipping.  This is why many strawberries have no taste when they first hit the markets.  If they berries were picked at their ripest stage, they'd be mushy by the time to bought them at the supermarkets.

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thats BS. I grow them every years in quebec, and it grows very fast, very easily. Where I had one plan last year, I had around 30 this year, had to remove most of them. They grows mostly like raspberry bushes, but die in winter, then grow again rapidly from forgotten ground cherry to become another bush up to 4ft in height. They are very hardy fruits and plan that resist most insects and sickness. I can usually get around 200-300 berry from a normal sized plan (organic, no pesticide).   They are sweat and are awesome in a jam, or just raw. If those scientist wants to make them grow, just make them grow in a suitable environment instead of trying to play god again just for the sake of it.

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3 hours ago, gargoylenest said:

thats BS. I grow them every years in quebec, and it grows very fast, very easily. Where I had one plan last year, I had around 30 this year, had to remove most of them. They grows mostly like raspberry bushes, but die in winter, then grow again rapidly from forgotten ground cherry to become another bush up to 4ft in height. They are very hardy fruits and plan that resist most insects and sickness. I can usually get around 200-300 berry from a normal sized plan (organic, no pesticide).   They are sweat and are awesome in a jam, or just raw. If those scientist wants to make them grow, just make them grow in a suitable environment instead of trying to play god again just for the sake of it.

What you describe and what I've experienced is kind of what makes ground cherries not so desirable for commercial growing. The wild and greatly indeterminate growth habit is primary. For a smaller farmstand or home grower/gatherer not such a big deal- but to make them as available and at a price point to compare them to strawberries it's a very big deal.

I poked around in a few more articles and it seems that the indeterminate nature is indeed the first thing the CRISPR is being applied to. Making the plant more determinate helps make the plant more commercially manageable. And also the effect of causing the plant to stop growing also causes the plant to stop blooming after flowers set which created a one-and-done kind of crop. Also much more desirable to commercial growers. Most other commercially grown nightshades are one-and-done crops.

 

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They also grow strawberries in Poteet,Texas south of san Antonio.They have a strawberry festival every year. Haven't seen ground cherries around here growing wild, but then I don't know what the flowers look like either.I have seen them in some seed catalogs. Baker Creek Farms has a seed catalog.Think they have them, plus some really interesting veggies. They even have a watermelon that has white flesh.

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Looked them up.They do grow in Texas and are a member of the nightshade family according to the website, Foraging Texas. I recognized the flower. We also have a round here a plant, same flower, only it's purple , and that also has a yellow berry. BUT I don't know if you can eat it.

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