Jam On The Hoof

Day 197: If we can get through June without being pounded by a heat wave, I should have a bumper crop of gooseberries (left), more than in any year in the past. The red currants (right) are another story. I had to perform a radical pruning last year to try to eliminate an insect pest which I believe was introduced to my garden by nursery stock, so they are not bearing as heavily. Currants bear best on second- or third-year wood, and I had to eliminate many of those canes. In any event, I really only use the currants to fill out my gooseberry jam recipe, and from the census of gooseberry flowers, I shouldn't need any currant juice at all this year. Last year's crop has seen me through the winter, plus "wiggle room" for thickly spread toast. Both tart and sweet simultaneously, gooseberry jam is my hands-down favourite above any other fruit or berry preserve.