shule1

I think it's possibly against the rules to tell you my source since the store has a not so good reputation on TV (due to rebranding tomatoes or something), but I can just give you some seeds if you want some.

I've never seen a deer in our backyard. Our primary mammalian garden pest is the domestic cat, so far. (They like to sit or sleep on herbs/flowers, dig and fill in holes where I may or may not have rows or seeds, and distract me while I'm trying to work. They might spray certain plants, too, but I'm not sure. Keeping the ground wet helps them not to dig holes as often. They didn't bother my ground cherries.) We did have a raccoon eating our sour cherries once, though, but they needed to be eaten anyway, and they had worms in them.

I doubt if deer would bother the ground cherries, due to toxins in the leaves, stems and husks (the husks are toxic), but you never know. Maybe deer are immune, or something. I guess it doesn't stop spider mites.

For recipes, I don't have any on mind offhand. I hear they go nicely in pie. However, they're great frozen. They keep their flavor that way and make a cool treat. I'm sure someone has recipes.

I haven't caged any ground cherries, yet. They can get big enough to cage, though (but it depends on the growing conditions, the soil, and how early you plant, perhaps). I'm not sure about pruning them. I don't think I've tried it.