We (it runs in the whole family) have a bad habit of taking in strays of all kinds. The worst is plants!
The last five years we have been nurturing several ground cherry bushes that we purchased at a local auction. A greenhouse grower in Nebraska was going out of business. He brought a ton of trees and bushes to our little local auction (it may look small, but they get buyers from all over the world – via online networking). Since we are small, chemical-free, farmers; of course we had to check it all out.
We bought four of the sad looking things. One died the very first year. The other three apparently loved the spots we picked out for them, they survived. Well this year we received a very thrilling surprise:
A GROUND CHERRY! Woo hoo!
Now this might not seem like much to most of you, but to a chemical free small farmer – it’s HUGE! It is a sign that we are doing something right. Now, the funny part…
The largest two of the three remaining bushes only have one cherry each? The third one has several cherries on it. According to my sister, “They are yummy!”
I guess we must be doing something right on our little piece of heaven. The bushes were dried up sticks when we bought them, and now they are amazing! They have always been a pretty bush (you can see the deep greens and maroons), I just never thought they were strong enough ever to produce fruit. Surprise, surprise!
I know a lot of you may not see the joy in this, but anyone that has been, is or aspires to be any type of grower will appreciate the significance of this miracle.
I do not think my sisters, and I will ever outgrow taking in weak, pitiful, unusual things (our older sister prefers straggly, stray scrawny cats – she strives to feed the world’s critters – lol). In the long run, I think this is good. Every once in a while, it provides me with proof that it is the right thing to do, such as these bushes.
HELBERG FARM STORIES 
I can and do get your excitement. It is awesome when the little seeds finally sprout and then begin baring fruit. Or in your case the scraggly little bushes. 🙂
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Do you have these in NE too? We did not in WI – only regular cherry “trees”. Seeing them on short bushes made me giggle!
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Yep, they grow in these parts but we may call them choke cherry bushes. Most people make choke cherry jam with the fruit. I think that is all they are good for. There are wild plums, wild grapes and choke cherry bushes that grow around the farther parts of the pasture. The wild grapes also grow around the ponds we fish at. The grapes if they actually mature and turn purple are really small about the size of large peas. When the kids were young they tried to make “grape juice” with them. They just mashed them in a small bowl and added a bit of sugar. Then drank it and made lots of sour faces. 😀
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I am so happy to hear your plants are producing fruits. TLC goes a long way when caring for plants!
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Love kitty!
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Awesome!
If you have one cherry this year then you should have 10,642 next year… I worked that out with my incredible maths skills. B-)
BTW… Never heard of ground cherries. Are they actually part of the Prunus family? O.o
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Don’t know Kal? I never heard of them either until we move to CO (Wisconsin we had the normal tree cherries – 3 of them-yum!). They are almost wild here. We have found several wild plum bushes too? They do not grow like a normal plum tree – they only get about 5 feet high – must also be a Colorado thingy?? hee hee Never a dull moment here!?!
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We had a plum tree in a garden we dealt with… That never got taller than about head height in the 5 years I worked there.
Maybe they are a certain type of plum?
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oh, and I LOVE your math!! that would be outstanding – we could make up a ton of jam and I could send you some – woo hooo LOL
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You could make Jam and sell it.
BTW, have you ever steamed a plum? O.O
http://www.thekitchn.com/quick-dessert-poached-plums-wi-88169
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Really like this post….I am always trying to rescue some plant or animal. My youngest son was the one who could find an abandoned stray kitten or cat anywhere. It was generally hauled home, cared for, named and ended up as part of the family.
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Hee hee, your son sounds like our older sister. In the last 10 years I think she adopted at least 2 strays, and yep, they became part of the family too! LOL
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