It used to be popular to have gooseberry pie in the north on Grand National Day, but I suppose because of the quantity of sugar required the fruit became unpopular in the last great war and has never regained its popularity.
These not only make picking difficult but they are apt to blow off in the wind. Fortunately, gooseberries show potash shortage very quickly by producing brown edges to the leaves. When this occurs one must hurriedly use wood ashes which cause the bushes to recover, interestingly enough, far quicker than by applying sulphate of potash.
In my farm, thereare individual gooseberries weighing over 2 oz. in weight, with a girth of nearly 6 inches. Such a gooseberry would sit comfortably on the top of a 1-1b. jam jar. It is a great pity that these societies have largely disappeared, but people seem to prefer T.V. today to the specialized flower or fruit clubs. I have grown such exhibition berries myself and it is a fascinating hobby.
To give the bushes room for development, the planting should be done on a 5-foot-square basis, though on strong land, and with strong varieties, 6-foot square is even better.
In small gardens, or where space is restricted in any way, there is no reason why gooseberries should not be trained as single or double cordons up a wall or fence, and then they should be planted at 2-21 feet apart. It is possible to have the bushes on a stem 4 feet high and thus they are well above the ground and are much easier to pick. A few people grow their gooseberries as fan-trained trees against a wall where they need a space of about 10 feet. Time to plant. Do the planting any time in the winter but preferably in November.
The normal gooseberry bush will be bought as a two-year-old bush. The cordons may be three years old, standard trees four years old and the fan-shaped types three years old also - 15266
These not only make picking difficult but they are apt to blow off in the wind. Fortunately, gooseberries show potash shortage very quickly by producing brown edges to the leaves. When this occurs one must hurriedly use wood ashes which cause the bushes to recover, interestingly enough, far quicker than by applying sulphate of potash.
In my farm, thereare individual gooseberries weighing over 2 oz. in weight, with a girth of nearly 6 inches. Such a gooseberry would sit comfortably on the top of a 1-1b. jam jar. It is a great pity that these societies have largely disappeared, but people seem to prefer T.V. today to the specialized flower or fruit clubs. I have grown such exhibition berries myself and it is a fascinating hobby.
To give the bushes room for development, the planting should be done on a 5-foot-square basis, though on strong land, and with strong varieties, 6-foot square is even better.
In small gardens, or where space is restricted in any way, there is no reason why gooseberries should not be trained as single or double cordons up a wall or fence, and then they should be planted at 2-21 feet apart. It is possible to have the bushes on a stem 4 feet high and thus they are well above the ground and are much easier to pick. A few people grow their gooseberries as fan-trained trees against a wall where they need a space of about 10 feet. Time to plant. Do the planting any time in the winter but preferably in November.
The normal gooseberry bush will be bought as a two-year-old bush. The cordons may be three years old, standard trees four years old and the fan-shaped types three years old also - 15266
About the Author:
The garden gooseberry fruit tree is valueable for bottling, cooking and dessert uses.
