Author Topic: Novelty nightshades  (Read 693 times)

NickD

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Novelty nightshades
« on: September 21, 2024, 04:53:56 PM »
This is the afternoon's sampling from the garden, mostly nightshades plus a few other things.


Solanum alatum - orange little berries, taste sweet like grapes, grows and ripens quickly, if started indoors around the same time as tomatoes, they can ripen 6-8 weeks after transplanting.
Solanum retroflexum - black little berries, more of a complex spicy taste, still sweet, maybe a bit like blueberry or black currant? Also quick to mature.
Solanum villosum - yellow little berries, tastes a bit between ground cherry and cherry tomatoes. Also quick to mature.

Queen of malinalco tomatillo. Tasted one raw, haven't make salsa yet since I don't quite have enough for that yet, but it does ripen faster than my purple tomatillo, which is appreciated.

Tzimbalo. Supposedly edible, but so far they taste pretty awful... Maybe they're not ripe yet. Hard to tell when they are though since the colour doesn't change.

Purple Jaltomato (next to the raspberries). Tastes a bit like tomatillo, a bit like apple, a bit like blueberry? Supposedly hardy to zone 8, so I'll see if it survives in my garage - overwintering will be useful since the germination is tricky. So far, not very productive, but maybe it's because my plants were slow to germinate and get going, and once they get bigger there will be more (but I've got only 1 month of growing season left).

Ground cherry. Probably people are familiar with it, tastes in between tomato, tomatillo and pinneapple? Pretty easy to grow, even in short and cool growing seasons like mine, especially if started indoors around the same time as tomatoes, but even self-sown volunteers can ripen by late summer.

Cape gooseberry. Sweeter and tastier than ground cherry in my opinion, with larger fruit. Plants are bigger too, but fruit takes longer to ripen, so may be beneficial to overwinter in the garage here. Supposedly hardy to Zone 8 to maybe they'll make it if my garage only gets down to 20-25F?

Galatians522

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Re: Novelty nightshades
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2024, 07:00:18 PM »
Very nice collection you have there. Do you think the tzimbalo will turn cream with purple strips like a Pepino when it is ripe?

NickD

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Re: Novelty nightshades
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2024, 07:15:14 PM »
Very nice collection you have there. Do you think the tzimbalo will turn cream with purple strips like a Pepino when it is ripe?
Maybe slightly more cream than the one I picked, but not like a pepino.

This is what I could find online.




This was the photo from the business that sold them - they look a little unripe still.

Galatians522

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Re: Novelty nightshades
« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2024, 09:22:49 PM »
Wow! I guess you will just have to check for softening.

Rob From Sydney

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Re: Novelty nightshades
« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2024, 09:58:35 PM »
Wow, those nightshades are wacky!
I have black, growing wild.
Stonefruit, Pomefruit, Citrus and Wacky Tropicals

NickD

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Re: Novelty nightshades
« Reply #5 on: September 24, 2024, 05:19:08 PM »
Wow, those nightshades are wacky!
I have black, growing wild.
The taxonomy with the black ones is a bit tricky. There's solanum retroflexum, which is I believe the one I have, and also solanum nigrum/scabrum, and they often get mixed up.

 

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