Ripe for Picking: a Guide to Collecting your own Bountiful Botanicals

[mort]

I don't know if they have been mentioned and a quick search didn't return any results but something I've used for a while now is Physalis peruviana, or more specifically the calyx covering the berries. They are easy to grow and called inca or Cape gooseberries here in the uk. I like the calyx as it's a little different in appearance but also if you open just one, petal/leaf?, then they make excellent live food feeders for finicky fish. I had a tank with Indostomus paradoxus and used to squirt baby brine shrimp into the calyx and the fish spent most of their time there.

A crappy picture before soaking



I also saw hazel mentioned and again I use these but mainly the nut husks, we have plenty of rodents down our allotment that prepare them for us by chewing a nice hole in the end. I've also found the calyx to be good but I soak them for longer because they can have a sticky residue. They are good because they can be collected in star shaped bunches and if you have the red cultivar, the calyx have a nice reddy hue.

I have also used Persian ironwood and the leaves last a long time. I was about to collect them this year but storm darragh donated them to a distant neighbour before I had the chance.

 

[Courtneybst]

I don't know if they have been mentioned and a quick search didn't return any results but something I've used for a while now is Physalis peruviana, or more specifically the calyx covering the berries. They are easy to grow and called inca or Cape gooseberries here in the uk. I like the calyx as it's a little different in appearance but also if you open just one, petal/leaf?, then they make excellent live food feeders for finicky fish. I had a tank with Indostomus paradoxus and used to squirt baby brine shrimp into the calyx and the fish spent most of their time there.

A crappy picture before soaking

View attachment 224834

I also saw hazel mentioned and again I use these but mainly the nut husks, we have plenty of rodents down our allotment that prepare them for us by chewing a nice hole in the end. I've also found the calyx to be good but I soak them for longer because they can have a sticky residue. They are good because they can be collected in star shaped bunches and if you have the red cultivar, the calyx have a nice reddy hue.

I have also used Persian ironwood and the leaves last a long time. I was about to collect them this year but storm darragh donated them to a distant neighbour before I had the chance.

So if I'm understanding correctly, you soak the physalis husks and they'll sink? Do they maintain shape despite being paper thin?

 

[mort]

So if I'm understanding correctly, you soak the physalis husks and they'll sink? Do they maintain shape despite being paper thin?

Hi Courtney, yes and yes really. There may be a better way but I simple pull them under water from the stem, letting as much air out as possible and they sink quite quickly. I do this in a container first and they are normally saturated in a day or two. I don't know how they would fair if they were boiled.
With the shape, they seem to stay intact well but again it might be how I use them. When I open them to get the fruit, I leave most of the husk intact, so it still has the ribs for structure. The water actually seems to hold it in shape but again I don't know if that would change if you boiled it. I also don't have a really strong flow and tend to use them in a lower flow area.

Not the greatest pictures but you can see one on the bottom right of my quarantine tank.

 

[tam]

Not the greatest pictures but you can see one on the bottom right of my quarantine tank.

Are those acorn cups you have in there too?

 

[mort]

Are those acorn cups you have in there too?

Yes and they last for years as do beech nut husks.