A Great Summer For Soft Fruit

[Nick Armstrong]

On the fruit & veg stall in the market this morning was a box of red gooseberries (a fruit I seldom eat except very occasionally the dessert variety) 'Are they sweet?' I enquired of the stallholder, a man who is eternally gloomy. 'Far too sweet' he replied 'They'll go off as soon as you look at them' then he added 'People are making jam from them, but it'll be over-sweet jam. Nasty that is'

He really isn't cut out to be a market trader!!

Answers to the name Eeyore, presumably...


(So did you try / buy said red gooseberries (I confess I've never heard of red ones)? *cue: heaps of withering scorn *

If so, how were they? )

[JimD]

Anyone have advice on the best way to pick blackcurrants?

[Anna]

(So did you try / buy said red gooseberries (I confess I've never heard of red ones)? *cue: heaps of withering scorn * If so, how were they? )

No, didn't buy any because they're not a fruit that I like, but if he has them next week I'll buy a small amount to try and report back. I don't think red gooseberries are uncommon. (I just bought blueberries and some very nice looking Spanish red plums today)

Anyone have advice on the best way to pick blackcurrants?

Never picked them, but I presume its by the whole string and not individually which would be too fiddly. You then run a fork down the string to separate the berries. You need jean to answer, she has an allotment and grows them.

[umslopogaas]

The RHS fruit and veg book does. Older varieties ripen progressively down the stalk (called a strig). These should be cut off individually with scissors. Newer varieties all ripen at once and the whole strig can be cut off with scissors. In either case the fruit must be undamaged if it is to be stored for any time, so a small piece of stalk must be left attached to the fruit.

[JimD]

Thanks folks. I confess to wondering whether it was worth it, even on the modest two bushes I have planted. I seem to remember that the picking of bleaberries/bilberries (often by children) up until about the 1960s in Cumberland and no doubt elsewhere was sometimes done with the aid of some kind gadget with 'prongs' and a collecting box. Wondered if it could be adapted.

[Anna]

I seem to remember that the picking of bleaberries/bilberries (often by children) up until about the 1960s in Cumberland and no doubt elsewhere was sometimes done with the aid of some kind gadget with 'prongs' and a collecting box. Wondered if it could be adapted.

In South Wales they are called whimberries and no-one should ever use one of those 'combs' to gather them as they strip the immature fruit as well as the mature (thereby leaving less for other whimberry gatherers!) I have some old photos of my grandmother's family up the mountain on a Sunday afternoon gathering them. They were often gathered by miners wives and sold in the weekly market for some extra income.
As for blackcurrants, as I said above, when my mother had a soft fruit garden we used to strip the berries from the strings running them through the tines of a fork.

[mangerton]

I've not had/seen loganberries for several decades and I agree completely with your estimation ahinton.

Mind you, wouldn't mind the odd mulberry

Haven't heard of loganberries for years. Reminds me of this . Jimmy Logan was a staple of Scottish pantomimes for years, and I remember lustily singing "Have a slice of loganberry pie" at the Edinburgh King's Theatre in the fifties.

Haven't seen red goosegogs for a long time either, come to think of it. Pretty much the same as green ones - very seedy.

[gurnemanz]

I have some loganberries in my front garden in a place they seem to like. I didn't plant them so I assume they self-seeded (maybe via birds) from a neighbour. They have spread over the years and we get a decent crop. They' re just about finished now. I go out in the morning for some to add to our breakfast cereal. The ripest dark red ones are really tasty.

We also have thornless blackberries which found their own way independently into our garden. I'm sure plants are more likely to flourish if they have decided for themselves where they want to grow. We get a big crop every year and this seems to be a bumper year.

[Sir Velo]

Anyone have advice on the best way to pick blackcurrants?

I usually find that holding the stem between index finger and thumb, and then pulling, works a treat.

[ahinton]

I have some loganberries in my front garden in a place they seem to like. I didn't plant them so I assume they self-seeded (maybe via birds) from a neighbour. They have spread over the years and we get a decent crop. They' re just about finished now. I go out in the morning for some to add to our breakfast cereal. The ripest dark red ones are really tasty.

We also have thornless blackberries which found their own way independently into our garden. I'm sure plants are more likely to flourish if they have decided for themselves where they want to grow. We get a big crop every year and this seems to be a bumper year.

Everything's been late this year on the berry front, at least around where I am. The fruit farm on the A49 that's the only place I know that does loganberries had none a few weeks ago and now they're almost over but I did manage to buy 5kg of them this afternoon and have popped them in the freezer. MMMMM!!!!! It seems that the only other ones around are those grown in individual gardens like yours; I've still been unable to source any commercially other than from this marvellous little place.