Resilience

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This year I tried for the first time to plant "uchuvas", known in English as cape gooseberries or goldenberries, but to which I refer simply as physalis (as they are known here in Germany). Physalis peruviana is a plant native to the Andean countries, which produces a round yellow berry with a sweet/tart taste that I really like, and which has a high vitamin C content. It is related to the tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa), and since I have been growing the latter for a few years (and enjoying Mexican enchiladas with homemade salsa verde at least a few times a year), this summer I decided to try my luck with its South American cousin.

I planted the physalis in pots, and although they developed a bit slowly (not as fast as the tomatillos), by September I finally managed to harvest some fruit. When the fall arrived, I moved them to the greenhouse, where they have some shelter from rain, wind and snow, but not from low temperatures. I have an unheated polycarbonate greenhouse, which means that with no sun the temperature inside will not be too different from outside. For this reason I thought that I would not be able to harvest them for much longer. However, the physalis proved me wrong: even in the second half of November, with temperatures of 5 C (and lower at night), they were still bearing fruit and even producing flowers. Although I always saw physalis as a tropical fruit, I suppose that coming from the Andes it can tolerate somewhat low temperatures. However, I did not imagine that it could be such a good example of resilience (defined as "an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change").

Carrying fruit and flowers despite temperatures...

...of 5 Celsius and lower. 

As we started to have frost this week, I decided not to tempt nature any more and moved the pots to my living room, where they will spend the winter with much more pleasant temperatures. I hope that by next spring they will be healthy and ready to go out again. For now they look happy, and several of the fruits are starting to ripen. 

Almost ready for harvest.