Mark may well disagree with me on this point, but I’m not a prolific swearer. I think that there are much more interesting words that can be used, BUT…. Gooseberry bushes hurt!! Today was the turn of the Gooseberry bushes, as the fruit is ripe and ready for picking. You know when they’re ready because if you squeeze a fruit, they have a little give in them. If you’re still not sure, then you can always taste one, and if it’s sweet and not at all sharp then they’re ready. I’ve stripped 2 bushes, and I hope that I have 1kg of fruit to make some jam with. It looks like I do, but only time will tell when I weigh them. I’ll make a little video when I do make the Gooseberry jam, so you can see what to do. I also picked a load more Strawberries. I think they’re slowing down now, which is good, as I’ve made enough jam, and we’ve eaten loads, so I’m starting to freeze them now, so we can use them later on in the year.
My Gooseberries and Strawberries from today.
As I was working my way through the gooseberry bushes and being careful not to hurt myself too much, I came across a dragon fly sitting on one of the bushes sunning itself. It wasn’t worried that I was very close, but eventually flew away when I got really close. I think they’re amazing creatures, they look really scary, but won’t hurt you. Seems a strange place for it to be, as usually they live a round ponds and lakes. Maybe it was a bit confused, like I get sometimes.
It was watching me very closely, maybe making sure I was behaving myself.
I also managed to weed and water another couple of beds, the Kohl Rabi is growing very well, so soon I’ll need to harvest some of that. Then just before I left, I went to check out my peas. They’ve been growing really well, so I picked one pod and promptly ate the peas. They were very tasty, but I took a photo for you to see, before I ate it. I’ll pick more tomorrow I expect.
Eight little peas in a pod. But not for long, as I ate them.
And finally, my order of Shropshire Seaweed Fertiliser arrived today, so that’s brilliant news, so I’ll start using that tomorrow.
Clairesallotment's Blog 
I do envy your produce!
Reblogged this on Linda's wildlife garden and commented:
Awesome update and thank you for sharing have a blessed day
But I bet you don’t envy the scratches I get from my gooseberry bushes.
I’ve never eaten a gooseberry or even seen the plant. I think we live too far in the south in America. Since you grow rhubarb, which we are just nearly too far out of the zone for, but can still grow if they’re planted in the right place (cool shaded area), maybe we could grow gooseberry, too in the same way. This is the very best picture I’ve ever seen of one. We do grow lots of strawberries, though. What a luscious looking crop!
Ripe Gooseberries are very sweet. I’m sure you could grow them, they like warmth. See if you can get hold of a thornless one, they’re much less painful when harvesting the fruit. Such a shame that you can’t grow rhubarb, it’s such a wonderful plant to grow. It needs loads of water and manure is always good. If you can find a shady corner of the garden, give it a try. My parents live in SE Spain and they can grow it, so I’m sure you could give it a go.
Thank you Claire!
I always thought our seasons were the same, but my peas are only just starting to fill out and the courgettes are about the size of a hotdog. My strawberries are just getting started, and we’ve been eating the lush kale for a while. (West Coast of Canada: on Vancouver Island) I love seeing your progress, your blog has been so inspiring and helpful to me!
Lots of my crops seem to be slightly ahead this year. I think it’s because we have a very mild winter (no snow and hardly any frost), so the ground was lovely and warm right from the start. Hopefully this means that we’ll get a good long summer too.
Always love your blogs. We have also picked gooseberries from brushes in the garden. Quite a good hall this year. We also picked goosberries from a local “Pick your own farm”. They grow theirs as cordons. They were much easier to pick and very few scratches. I intent to copy the idea at the allotment. (Keep on blogging 🙂
This year seems like it’s a great year for gooseberries. I’ve made jam today, and it tastes wonderful. I made a little film, so that’ll go up soon. Growing in cordons sounds much better and much less painful. Don’t worry I’ll keep on blogging.