Down on the Allotment

Matron grows vegetables and fruit in a Hampshire garden. I've been growing veggies since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Some traditional varieties and old favourites as well as new ideas. I share my garden with my allotment assistant Daisy the Labrador. On Twitter as @MatronsVeggies

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Fruits of the Forest

I am thrilled with my first decent crop of Gooseberry Invicta. The bush is only a couple of years old and to date I have only ever had 3 or 4 berries each year but 2009 has been stunning. These berries are a slightly yellow colour and the plant is highly resistant to gooseberry mildew. These are now softer to the touch and can be eaten straight from the plant without a hint of any acid flavour - they are just perfectly sweet! The same can be said for all of my other soft fruit bushes. They just ripen at the same time. The joy of soft fruit is that apart from pruning once a year, you really don't have to do anything to the plant - they just produce lovely fruit for you.
Time for another Summer pudding!

10 Comments:

At 10:01 AM, Blogger VP said...

It's a fantastic year for gooseberries here too, Matron. I made some gooseberry jam last week - in that 30 degree heat!

 
At 12:13 PM, Blogger dinzie said...

What a harvest ... I canalmosttaste them from over here :O)

Glad to hear about the invicta as I've just planted 4 bushes .....

D

 
At 12:27 PM, Blogger Ribbit said...

Summer pudding? Is that like jam? Wait, I see it in an old post on the side. I'll go there.

 
At 1:38 PM, Blogger Bob said...

Hi Matron. Your fruit looks great. I've been picking soft fruit this morning. I have to leave off for a while now though as there is no one in the house able to see to it until Friday. Those Goosberries sound handy, I have two Gooseberry bushes, one got the mildew and the other didn't and they sit right next to each other. Bob

 
At 3:05 PM, Blogger Kath said...

I'm salivating looking at those pictures. Soft fruits are very accommodating aren't they?

 
At 5:47 AM, Anonymous kitsapFG said...

The soft fruit harvest looks most tempting! There is something quite lucious about berries - both visually and taste wise.

 
At 1:48 PM, Blogger Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Only a few fruits for the past few years? My invicta has been a good cropper from the word go. But I'm very glad to see your bounty Sarah. Bon appetite.

 
At 8:14 PM, Blogger Susan said...

Hi Matron,
Looking forward to getting a crop of goosberries like yours in a few years. We only got a few from our new invicta bush this year. Looks like its all round to your house for lots of puddings!

 
At 3:39 PM, Blogger Dan said...

That is some impressive fruit. I have never tried a gooseberry, I should!

 
At 5:15 AM, Blogger Toni said...

What do you do with your gooseberries?

My mom has some ready to pick, I thought that I'd try making some jelly.

 

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