Project Update: Field Planting!

Project Update: Field Planting!

Greetings everyone!This past week we were able to plant our 2020 Physalis crop here in Ithaca. We planted five types of groundcherry, three types of goldenberry, and one type of tomatillo. These plants were started in the greenhouse back in March (goldenberry) and...
Guest Post: Traditional Plant Breeding

Guest Post: Traditional Plant Breeding

Welcome to the first entry of The Approaches for Crop Improvement series: Traditional Plant Breeding! Today’s post will look at how traditional plant breeding capitalizes on naturally occurring biodiversity to create the food crops we depend on daily. The variety we...
Project Updates + Physalis in the Wild

Project Updates + Physalis in the Wild

A Project UpdateGreetings Everyone! Can you believe it is already the last week of April? Though it has been a rainy and snowy month here in Upstate NY, we have started to see glimmers of Spring sunshine, making us hopeful for a warmer month to come! Our plants in the...
Project Updates: March 2020

Project Updates: March 2020

Home Blog Greetings,We hope you are all staying well and are looking forward to the coming Spring garden season. I just wanted to check in and see how things are going with your seeds and give an update on the project.First off, we were delighted by the amount of...
Physalis: Growing Season Length

Physalis: Growing Season Length

With winter in full swing in Ithaca, it has come time to wrap up our first Physalis field season. Being that it was our first time growing groundcherry and goldenberry outside in a field setting, we didn’t know what to expect. One thing we were interested in was...
Physalis Event 2019

Physalis Event 2019

Thank you to all who joined us for our event Physalis: From the Garden to the Table! It was an opportunity for us to thank our participants as well as share a little bit about this year’s Physalis Improvement Project, all while enjoying Physalis foods!  Dishes...
Project Update: Consumer Preference Test

Project Update: Consumer Preference Test

Project Update: Consumer Preference Test Greetings everyone!August has been a busy month for us out in the Physalis field. Our groundcherries appeared to reach peak production levels the first week of August, and our goldenberries steadily produced for all of August....
Guest Post: What Makes Tomatillos Sticky?

Guest Post: What Makes Tomatillos Sticky?

The following is a guest post from Dr. Craig Schenck, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Michigan State University, who studies plant metabolites and their role in plant defense. Connect with him on twitter at...
Field Update: Trellising and Fruit Ripening

Field Update: Trellising and Fruit Ripening

Greetings Everyone!   Although it seemed to endlessly rain throughout the month of June, we have finally found ourselves in a streak of warm and sunny weather. It seems that the hot sun was just what our plants needed to really take off in the field, and we have...
Physalis Pest Alert: Three-lined Potato Beetle

Physalis Pest Alert: Three-lined Potato Beetle

Physalis Pest Alert: Three-lined Potato Beetle HomePhysalis Blog Home Blog Greetings Everyone,As the growing season moves forward I wanted to alert everyone to be on the lookout for a Physalis pest that has started to appear this season. The three-lined potato beetle...
Pollinators of Physalis

Pollinators of Physalis

The following is a guest post by Julie Davis, a first year PhD student in the Cornell University Department of Entomology Spring is finally yawning and stretching before it takes off full-force here in Ithaca, NY. Hyacinths, cherry blossoms, cilia, crocuses, red...
A Night Celebrating Physalis

A Night Celebrating Physalis

Physalis Harvest Event 2018 Thank you to all who could join us for our 2018 Physalis Harvest event! It was night of fun, food, and physalis. It was a great opportunity to interact and hear from participants about their experiences growing Physalis this season, and...
Biology Minute: Husk Formation

Biology Minute: Husk Formation

The Physalis genus is known for the husks that surround its fruit, an attribute that offers protection from pests and disease, increases shelf life of berries, and in the case of Chinese lantern, adds ornamental value. Although commonly associated with Physalis, these...
Judy’s Day and Groundcherry Research

Judy’s Day and Groundcherry Research

Judy’s Day In memory of Judy Abrams, the Cornell Botanical Gardens puts together a family learning festival annually that celebrates learning and the natural world. This year’s theme was “Plants Have Families Too”, and what better...