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.

Bush Fruits

Day 207: Last year, I did a lot of reading on the subject before taking the pruning shears to my currants (left) and gooseberries (right). Each requires a different method to produce the best crops. Apparently I did the job correctly, becaue both are loaded with flowers and, as you can see, some of the ovaries (the fruit) are already swelling. Currants bear most heavily on 2-3 year old wood, less on older stems. Old wood must be pruned out and half a dozen new non-bearing shoots should be preserved to bear the following year. Gooseberry stems, on the other hand, may be allowed to bear for three years before pruning out the old wood. New shoots should be thinned to 2-4 to maintain the bearing cycle. If you have trouble distinguishing the ages of the stems, you can code each year's growth with coloured surveyor's tape. Keep good records, and enjoy an abundance of "bush fruits" as jam and jelly.

Worth Every Prickle

Day 362: Gooseberries are not commonly seen in stores these days, nor at roadside stands. Few people grow them even for home use in pies or as jam. Given my fondness for gooseberry jam, it's hard for me to imagine that a few prickles would be a major deterrent, but on the other hand, they require a lot of meticulous preparation before they're serviceable. In the jargon of gooseberry cultivation, the process is known as "topping and tailing." Using a sharp knife, both the stem and blossom ends must be trimmed from each berry individually, a time-consuming but not altogether unpleasant task if you occupy yourself with thinking of the tart/sweet taste of the jam on a future muffin. Their general unavailability led me to plant a couple of bushes several years ago, but they did not do well in the location I chose. I decided to try Alternate Plan B: purchase new ones and bed them in huge flower pots in the Berry Pen where my blueberries flourish. Then, in an attempt to make the best of a bad deal, I also moved the old plants to the Berry Pen. The relocation and new plantings were successful and I harvested a pound and a half of tangy gooseberries this last summer. Concurrently, I planted two red-currant bushes and got enough fruit this year to make a quarter-cup of juice which I added to the gooseberries, turning the whole lot into six half-pints of one of my favourite bread-spreads. That said, potential gooseberry farmers should be aware that the plants are armed and dangerous, but to my way of thinking, worth every prickle for the yield.

Currant Expansion

Day 176: It's Spring. You can tell, because you're likely to find me out in the yard digging holes. This year, it's the Currant Expansion. I really had planned to move two sickly gooseberries to this location, but when I went to buy good soil to put in the pots, a pair of Red Currants followed me home. These are not to be confused with our native Red-Flowering Currant which has dusty blue berries. These are red-fruited, and make exceptionally good jam (assuming you ever have enough of them). Fresh off the vine, the translucent red berries are too sour for munching. Like most of my projects, the Currant Expansion turned into a bigger job than originally intended, but then, I still want to move those gooseberries (another fruit which is best as jam), or maybe put in two healthier new ones. I'll need to get another pair of big pots, though. I prefer to raise blueberries, tomatoes and such in pots sunk in the ground. By confining the roots, a stronger root mass develops. Soil moisture is easier to maintain in the containers and, if I ever decide to move them as I did the blueberries a couple of years ago, they can be shifted without particular damage to the roots.