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[Bill Garthright <billg@inebraska.com>]

I have a conventional Gooseberry that tends to go unpicked because of my reluctance to make blood sacrifices in the garden.

FYI, Poorman - which is easily my favorite gooseberry for taste - has relatively few thorns. However, it's not nearly as prolific as other gooseberries (at least, that's been my experience).

Black Velvet isn't as bad as most, I'd say, but it's still pretty thorny. However, I strung some clothesline cable from posts in a circle around it, and trained the long, long canes upward. Thus, I can stand up and pick it pretty easily, rather than crawling around in the dirt, trying to pick from thorny branches hugging the ground. So I'm never bleeding quite as badly after picking that one, compared with most of the others.

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)

http://garthright.blogspot.com/

--
Rights are just promises we make to ourselves on our better days, binding us to the conduct we aspire to, hoping that on our worse days we will not be quick enough or powerful enough to undo them before we regain our sanity. - Kent Pitman