Lilley quoted in Press Herald column on husk cherries
Jason Lilley, a sustainable agriculture professional with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Falmouth, was quoted in a Portland Press Herald article about foraged and cultivated husk cherries. The article is part of the “Green Plate Special” column. Called Physalis pruinosa by botanists, and husk cherries, ground cherries, husk tomatoes, Inca Berries and Cape Gooseberries more colloquially, the berries are really just prolific weeds, the author writes. The author included her concerns about whether it is a sustainable practice to take a previously foraged food item and “eat it like it’s going out of style.” Lilley said the problem with foraging, is that when an item becomes popular, people overharvest it so the wild species diminishes or disappears “Fortunately for your love of ground cherries, I see no concerns in cultivating this delicious crop,” he said in response to the author’s worries. Ground cherry seeds are distributed by seed companies across the country, he said, which means that a lot of the species is around, and that growers can select varieties that taste best and resist disease.