Saturday, May 8, 2010

Currants & Gooseberries


currant




gooseberry

These gooseberries and currants bloomed early this spring, and we had lots of rain and cold during and after their blooming so I was worried the berry crop might be compromised. Same situation for the peaches and apricots, all were rained upon during bloom. I went out today and lifted a prickly branch of the gooseberry (last year's wood) and found a lovely row of berries filling out quite nicely. On the black currants I found clusters of the immature fruit here and there. I still won't have enough for jelly this year, but I'll eat them out of hand when they are ripe. In the fall I made a few cuttings of the black currants and put them in the front yard, in the berm and basin area. I just stuck the dormant wood into the soil. They seem to root fairly easily, so I will continue to increase my stock that way. They don't seem to be bothered by the walnuts either, so they will make a nice addition to the walnut guild.

No comments: