Week of July 10, 2022

TAProots Farm had its first GOOSEBERRY harvest today. Gooseberries are in the Ribes family with currents, and are popular in the British Isles and Northern Europe when used for jam, pies, and cobblers. Rows of five varieties were planted in the raspberry patch two springs ago, and most took root and survived to become small bushes. The raspberry patch is now fenced in, partly to prevent deer from browsing the gooseberry buds in the early spring and partly to prevent a number of animals from eating the ripening gooseberries. The bushes had lots of dainty blossoms in May and most bushes now have thick foliage. The berries varied from Ruby red to light green, depending on the variety and ripeness. The berries set best in the base of the bush, out of sight. Picking gooseberries is difficult, as the branches have very sharp thorns protruding densely. The berries are larger than currents or blueberries. There is some drama as to when to pick them. Generally, they are best when a few berries are soft enough to be squeezed, then all the berries are picked. Today’s harvest yielded two quarts, one red and one green. Now comes the difficult decision: Pie or Jam? Maybe both.