Day 199: Well, if you've ever backed into a gooseberry bush, you'll understand what I mean when I say that they're good at spurring you into action. However, in this case, it wasn't prickles but blossoms which got me into high gear; that, and some already developing fruit which reminded me that I still had last year's crop in the freezer, waiting to be turned into jam. I had enough for a single batch (seven half-pints), gooseberry jam being one of my favourites, and enough left over for a small pie. My bushes aren't large, and I keep them pruned back for ease of harvesting the fruit. Older canes are easy to identify by the sheer number of thorns they bear, and since the plant fruits best on 2-3 year old canes, the older ones should be cut out at the end of each growing season. Unless we have some kind of weather extreme (hot or cold), it looks like this year's crop will be good.
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