North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>]

> Bill, if you want the berries on the Hinnonmaki Red to size up before they 
> ripen, you probably should remove every other one.
>   


Good thing I decided to do this. And it's easy to see that I'm a 
complete novice at this fruit-growing business. My gooseberry bushes 
look great, and I've been very pleased that nothing was eating the 
leaves. But I never thought to look closely at the berries. Duh! When I 
went to thin them, I discovered there are worms in many of the green 
gooseberries. A bright green worm that moves very quickly when 
disturbed. I'd heard of currant worms (which I suppose these are?), but 
I'd read that they attacked the leaves of the plant. As I say, I wasn't 
smart enough to keep a close eye on the developing berries. Oh, well, 
live and learn.

The infested berries are obvious, since they're a bit fuzzy. And they 
pick off very easily. So I removed all of the wormy berries that I could 
find and tossed them in the trash, then picked about one third of the 
remaining green gooseberries for a pie. I'll spray the bushes with Bt as 
soon as it looks like we'll have a couple of days without rain. It's 
been a remarkably - wonderfully - wet year here, so far.

I've been spraying Bt on my peaches, too, but it still looks like I've 
got peach twig borers (and on the sour cherry now, too). I've never 
actually seen those worms, and I've taken apart the dead ends of the 
twigs to look. Perhaps they're just too small to see very easily? Or is 
there something else that will do the same thing? If it's not a worm or 
a caterpillar, then Bt isn't going to help at all.

Anyway, I just thought I'd admit my stupidity with the gooseberries. 
I'll learn,... eventually.

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)

--
I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is. I 
only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments 
that differentiate me from a doormat. - Rebecca West, 1913