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===History=== | ===History=== | ||
Originally a woodland and hedgerow plant, the first selective breeding took place in the British | Originally a woodland and hedgerow plant, the first selective breeding took place in the British Isles in the 16th century, particularly by amatuer growers in the industrial midlands.<ref name=mabey2012 /> Traditionally, gooseberry was grown in orchards in the Fens (Eastern England).<ref name=hart2019 /> Yearly gooseberry competions with awards for the largest gooseberry took place in Lancashire,<ref name=hart2019 /> and still take place in some UK villages.<ref name=mabey2012 /> | ||
==Behaviour== | ==Behaviour== | ||
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* '''Hardwood cuttings:''' take cuttings in late autumn and place them in outdoors nursery bed.<ref name=crawford2016 /> | * '''Hardwood cuttings:''' take cuttings in late autumn and place them in outdoors nursery bed.<ref name=crawford2016 /> | ||
*'''Mounding:''' one method of obtaining many rooted plants for transplanting is to hard prune an old bush to within 30cm of the ground in early spring. This encourages new shoots. In midsummer, heap a mound of earth and compost around the bush so that only the tips of the new shoots are visible. In autumn the new canes will have rooted and can be carefully removed from the rest of the plant.<ref name=seymour2014 /> | |||
===Maintenance=== | ===Maintenance=== | ||
Revision as of 10:01, 14 April 2019
This article is about the plant species Ribes uva-crispa, a shrub with edible fruit commonly referred to as Gooseberry. The berries are usually green, but different cultivars produce a range of yellow, red or white fruit. The flavour is usually tart but modern varieties tend to be sweeter. In a temperate climate forest garden, gooseberries perform excellently in the shrub layer since they are fairly shade tolerant.[1] Along with other Ribes spp. such as blackcurrants (R. nigrum) and redcurrants/whitecurrants (R. rubrum), some consider gooseberries to be the backbone of the shrub layer.[2] They are woodland plants in their natural state.[2]
Background Information
Taxonomy
Common names
Etymology
Varieties
- "Whinhan's Industry": especially shade tolerant and therefore more appropriate for forest gardens.[2]
History
Originally a woodland and hedgerow plant, the first selective breeding took place in the British Isles in the 16th century, particularly by amatuer growers in the industrial midlands.[3] Traditionally, gooseberry was grown in orchards in the Fens (Eastern England).[2] Yearly gooseberry competions with awards for the largest gooseberry took place in Lancashire,[2] and still take place in some UK villages.[3]
Behaviour
Range
It is sometimes debated whether goosebrry is native to the UK, but it almost certainly is.[3] Some gooseberries growing in the wild do represent garden "escapes" which have been bird sown.[3]
Morphology
Single trunked, multistemmed deciduous shrub.[1] Mature height 1-1.5m and similar spread.
Leaves are 3 or 4 lobed and have blunt toothed margins.[3]
Flowers are green-white,[1] or green-red and drooping.[3]
Fruit are grape sized but more rounded.[3] They are usually hairy.[3] Bushes will crop for about 25 years.[1]
Growth Habit
The roots are shallow but spread laterally to a significant degree.[4]
Reproduction
Gooseberry is self fertile (one plant will fruit by itself).[1] Flowers in spring.[1] Flowering fairly resistant to frost.[1] Bee pollintated.[1]
Cultivation: Site Selection
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zone 5.[1]
Soil Type
Slight preference for heavy soils, but can thrive in almost any soil.[4]
Soil pH
pH 6-8.[4] Consider adding some lime if the pH is less than 6.[4]
Shade Preference
Full sun.[1]
Shade Tolerance
Tolerates quite a lot of shade.[1] Under shaded conditions it tends to be more "leggy", fruiting higher up.[1]
Aspect
Exposure
Cultivation: Techniques
Typically purchased from suppliers as bare-rooted or potted bushes. These are best planted in winter,[1] or autumn.[4] To prepare the site, one method is to dig deeply and mix manure or compost in the top layer, over a wide area (gooseberry has shallow, lateral spreading roots).[4]
Bushes should be spaced 1.5m apart.[4] As cordons, gooseberries should be spaced 30cm apart (in the row).[4] With the deep bed method, the spacing can be reduced to 1.2m.[4]
Gooseberries are good for small gardens since they fruit heavily and do not take a lot of space (particularly if trained as cordons), and can also be used to utilise shaded areas.[4]
In a temperate climate forest garden, gooseberries perform excellently in the shrub layer since they are quite shade tolerant.[1] Along with other Ribes spp. such as blackcurrants (R. nigrum) and redcurrants/whitecurrants (R. rubrum), some consider gooseberries to be the backbone of the shrub layer.[2] They are woodland plants in their natural state.[2] Some even state that gooseberry is one of the most useful plants for the shrub layer (UK).
Propagation
- Hardwood cuttings: take cuttings in late autumn and place them in outdoors nursery bed.[1]
- Mounding: one method of obtaining many rooted plants for transplanting is to hard prune an old bush to within 30cm of the ground in early spring. This encourages new shoots. In midsummer, heap a mound of earth and compost around the bush so that only the tips of the new shoots are visible. In autumn the new canes will have rooted and can be carefully removed from the rest of the plant.[4]
Maintenance
Watering
Pruning
Problems
- American Gooseberry Mildew: first sign is white felt covering young leaves and shoots. Berries have a brown covering. Do not give bushes too much nitrogen to prevent it. Remove and burn any afffected shoots. One method is to spray with a mixture of soft soap (228g), washing soda (500g) and water (23 litres), and again during flowering and again when fruit is set.[4]
- Gooseberry Sawfly: green and black spotted, yellow tailed small caterpillars. They can reproduce 3 times in a signle growing season and can eat all the leaves from gooseberry bushes.[4]
- Red Spider Mite: Tiny red mites gather on leaves, which will turn bronze with a white underside, and eventually dry up and die. Use a jet of water to dislodge them.[4]
Harvest
In the wild, gooseberries can be found scattered in woods and hedgerows in most of Europe.[3] Wild gooseberries fruit from early July onwards.[3]
Acidic, green gooseberries can be harvested in May but they need to be cooked.[1]
For cultivated varieties, yield is about 4kg per year per bush under full sun conditions.[1] Yield is reduced in shade.[1]
One method of quickly harvesting gooseberries is to pull the branches through your hand while wearing a thick glove. Catch the fruit in a sheet. To separate the fruit from fallen leaves and thorns etc, place the contents of the sheet down a board which allows the round fruit to roll down into a container.[4]
Preservation
Fresh fruit will store for only 1-2 weeks.[1]
Uses
- Wine -- See: Household Cyclopedia, Wines and Ciders (1881)
- Jam -- Gooseberries are high in pectin and are useful to add to low pectin fruits which would otherwise not set easily when making jam.[5]
- Jelly
- Fruit leather -- pulp needs thickening.[1]
- Sauces
- Pies
- Can be bottled, pickled and served cooked with food.
Secondary uses:
- Bee plant[1]
Cooking
- Gooseberry Pie
- Gooseberry Fool, a traditional English desert.
- Fennel and Gooseberry sauce for mackerel.
Nutritional Values
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 Crawford, M (2016). Creating a Forest Garden: working with nature to grow edible crops. Green Books. ISBN 9781900322621.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Hart, R (2019). Forest gardening : rediscovering nature and community in a post industrial age. Green Books. ISBN 9781900322027.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 Mabey, R (2012). Food For Free. HarperCollins. ISNB 9780007183036.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 Seymour, M (2014). The New Self-Sufficient Gardener: The complete illustrated guide to planning, growing, storing and preserving your own garden produce. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 9781409346784.
- ↑ Crawford, M; Aitken, C (2013) Food from your forest garden : How to harvest, cook and preserve your forest garden produce. Green Books. ISBN 9780857841124.