Gooseberry

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 Ilses 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]

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

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