Cape gooseberries

It's always nice to grow something new especially when you don't know how the plant is going to develop. Earlier this year an allotment neighbour gave me a small plant which she said was a cape gooseberry. I have never grown this before so didn't know how to look after it. I repotted it into a larger pot, put it in the greenhouse, watered it regularly and watched it grow.

It grew and grew and then papery fruit cases appeared on the plant. The fruit cases start off green then turn a pale straw colour as the fruit ripens. I wasn't sure when would be the right time to pick them but the plant helped me decide as they kept dropping off. As the plant grew there were more and more fruit which dropped off all over the greenhouse staging and onto the floor.

I collected them up and tasted them. They look like tiny baby tomatoes and are a pale yellow/orange colour. They have a sweet taste but there was no enthusiasm from my family for them, so I just continue to admire the plant. The fruit in their papery cases are in a little bowl in the kitchen and I dip into it from time to time, but like my family, I too am not that impressed with them.