North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

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

> I hate to say it, but considering where gooseberries are from, 
> (England and the Hinnomaki's from Finland) but perhaps your berries 
> did better BECAUSE of the clouds and reduced light from screening.  I 
> definitely plan to plant mine where they will have mostly shade, that 
> stands out pretty clearly from both Nafexers experience and the KY 
> bulletins.


My gooseberries are planted in a narrow (7 ft. wide) strip between my 
house and a solid vinyl privacy fence, so they only get direct sunlight 
for a brief period at mid-day (they do get redirected light reflected 
from the white vinyl fence and light-gray vinyl siding, so maybe that 
helps). I planted them because I didn't think anything else would 
produce fruit growing there. And so far, that's worked out very well.

Actually, in Nebraska's climate, I don't think they'd do well in direct 
sun. They'd certainly need a lot more watering. But they produce quite 
well for me where they are. And, as I say, not much else would produce a 
lot of fruit there.


> I have read elsewhere that the green-yellow berries don't get as 
> sweet, though Lon said that the H. Yellow is really nice when well 
> ripened.


I suppose it depends on personal preferences and maybe the conditions, 
but I never thought Hinonmaki Yellow was good ripe. Plus, they fall off 
the bush VERY quickly when they start to get ripe - or, at least, they 
do for me. So I pick them all green. As soon as they start to turn 
color, and start to fall off the bush, I pick them all.

Well, I'm anxious for gooseberry pie by then, so it works out well. I 
let the other varieties ripen longer. And as I mentioned earlier, H. 
Yellow is my most prolific gooseberry (though the smallest bush, by 
far), so I get a lot of gooseberries from it.

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)

--
We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very 
average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us 
something very special. - Stephen Hawking