I have in my garden, what I was told, is a Worcesterberry. What I was
not told was when to pick them. My gardening books are quite old and
make no mention of them.

At the moment there are fruits ranging from green, through red, to dark
red and onto almost black.

Experimentation shows that picking the very dark red ones is relatively
easy, the black ones seem to tear the skin rather than snap off from the
stalk as one would expect. Could some one please advise when is the best
time to pick?

The plant is also very vigourous, with lots of new growth, spreading the
bush further than I want it. Is it safe just to cut back the new growt,
either now or in the autumn/

One final request, slightly outside this newsgroup, any one any good
reciepes for using them? I am assuming that I can stew them with a
little water and sugar, but would be interested in other uses and
combinations.

Many Thanks

--
Roger T

valid email is "

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I have in my garden, what I was told, is a Worcesterberry. What I was
not told was when to pick them. My gardening books are quite old and
make no mention of them.
A Worcesterberry is a small, purple, very thorny, disease resistant
gooseberry, probably a 'tamed' version of the original wild gooseberry.
Not to be confused with the Jostaberry, which is a cross between a
gooseberry and a blackcurrant. [Joanna Readman - 'Fruity Stories']

At the moment there are fruits ranging from green, through red, to dark
red and onto almost black.
That is correct, they tend to ripen unevenly.

Experimentation shows that picking the very dark red ones is relatively
easy, the black ones seem to tear the skin rather than snap off from the
stalk as one would expect. Could some one please advise when is the best
time to pick?
If you leave them until they are fully ripened, i.e. black, the birds
will probably have them first. We picked about 4 lbs. of them today in
all colours from green to black. We have the splinters to prove it :-(

The plant is also very vigourous, with lots of new growth, spreading the
bush further than I want it. Is it safe just to cut back the new growt,
either now or in the autumn/
Cut back some of the new growth after harvesting the fruit, but remember
that the best of next year's crop will come on this year's new wood.
Very old stems can be taken out complete to let some air into the bush.

One final request, slightly outside this newsgroup, any one any good
reciepes for using them? I am assuming that I can stew them with a
little water and sugar, but would be interested in other uses and
combinations.
Use as for gooseberries. They freeze well and are good for winemaking.

--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

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The plant is also very vigourous, with lots of new growth, spreading the
bush further than I want it. Is it safe just to cut back the new growt,
either now or in the autumn/

You have good advice already - If I send you a tube, stamped and
addressed, I'd appreciate some of the prunings...

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Hello Roger,
A Worcesterberry, depending on which books you read, is either a hybrid berry between a gooseberry and a blackcurrant or is an American species.
I have not grown one, but understand that their fruit is smaller than a gooseberry and is good for jam making as it has a high acid content.
Like gooseberries they can be picked young and tart or allowed to ripen to a dull black colour.
They are grown in the US as they are resistant to American Gooseberry mildew which can plague gooseberries.
Compared to gooseberies they are lower yeilding.
In terms of care and pruning treat as for gooseberries - so prune new lateral growth to 5 leaves, but don't prune leaders. From November ot February cut the leaders back by one half and the laterals which were reduced to 5 leaves should be pruned down to two buds. As always, remove any dead, diseased, dieing or crossing branches. Also, like gooseberries, keep and open center to aid good air movement and allow light in to aid ripening

Good luck

Cliff
in South Yorkshire

The message
from Alan Gould contains these words:

A Worcesterberry is a small, purple, very thorny, disease resistant
gooseberry, probably a 'tamed' version of the original wild gooseberry.
Not to be confused with the Jostaberry, which is a cross between a
gooseberry and a blackcurrant. [Joanna Readman - 'Fruity Stories']

Thank you, I recall a number of years ago we had one of those, which we
called a desert gooseberry, we all dreaded being told to go and pick
them!. They were absolutely delicious, and we used to propogate them by
taking cuttings and get rid of the old plant every few years.
Unfortunately, when I got my own garden, after a few years the plant
stopped fruiting, and I was unable to go back to the original. This one
seems to have bigger fruit (round 1.5cm - bigger than black currants,
but smaller than gooseberries) and is fortunately thornless, which would
presumably point to a Jostaberry.


If you leave them until they are fully ripened, i.e. black, the birds
will probably have them first. We picked about 4 lbs. of them today in
all colours from green to black. We have the splinters to prove it :-(

As the bush is in a netted area, with redcurrants, the birds can not get
at them! I've picked almost 40lbs (yes fourty!) of gooseberries off just
one bush over the last three weeks, so I can sympathise.

Cliff_C wrote:

: Hello Roger,
: A Worcesterberry, depending on which books you read, is either a hybrid
: berry between a gooseberry and a blackcurrant or is an American
: species.
: I have not grown one, but understand that their fruit is smaller than a
: gooseberry and is good for jam making as it has a high acid content.
: Like gooseberries they can be picked young and tart or allowed to ripen
: to a dull black colour.
: They are grown in the US as they are resistant to American Gooseberry
: mildew which can plague gooseberries.
: Compared to gooseberies they are lower yeilding.
: In terms of care and pruning treat as for gooseberries - so prune new
: lateral growth to 5 leaves, but don't prune leaders. From November ot
: February cut the leaders back by one half and the laterals which were
: reduced to 5 leaves should be pruned down to two buds. As always,
: remove any dead, diseased, dieing or crossing branches. Also, like
: gooseberries, keep and open center to aid good air movement and allow
: light in to aid ripening

I had one given some years ago. It seemed remarkably unproductive,
very difficult to pick 'cos of the thorns, and not very tasty. So I dug it
up. I've got a very thorny Goosegog, but it's as nothing compared with the
spines of the worcesterberry!