Toppin' and Tailin' Time

It's toppin' and tailin' time! If you are a gooseberry jam aficionado as I am, you'd be willing to put in the effort to top-and-tail, i.e., cut off the stem and blossom ends of each individual berry, which is necessary before they can be turned into jam. I pick, top-and-tail, cut each berry in two, and then freeze them in jam-sized batches so I can do the cooking during cooler fall weather. It took me 45 minutes to top-and-tail the three cups of berries from this morning's harvest..first of the year, with lots more to come. My bushes are absolutely loaded this year! I let a few of these get a little too ripe so they were hard to cut in two without squishing, but another batch this size will be ready to pick either tomorrow or the next day. I love my gooseberry jam!