Homeschool Garden Club - Gooseberries

Normally we would have have a harvest fit for a king of goosberries by now. However, the cold wet spring hit the homeschool garden at a time when the goosberries were in flower and it is clear the pollinators did not get out much to do their job. We have had avery poor harvest this year. So much so, that only one brave homeschool garden club learners was required to brave the thorns to pick them.

Unlike the redcurrants, blackcurrants and strawberries, we cannot pop down to our local pick your own farm and gather enough fruit to top up for any recipes we would like to do. Gooseberries are not that popular which is a reall shame. Even with our contacts at the allotment and further afield within our homeschooling community; gooseberries bushes are not that plentiful. Those who do have them have the same problem as we do - a poor harvest this year.

We have not got enough to make 1 batch of jam, so I have asked the Orchard Training Homeschool Cookery Club to reseach some gooseberry recipes and we will make the favourite one for tasting.

They setled on Gooseberry Fool and we made it in two different ways. We treated the goosberries the same, add the same amount of sugar and tasted. The red ones won on appearance alone and not on taste. Taste wise they were very similar and with eye closed it was hard to tell them apart. Then with the green gooseberries we spooned the fruit, custard and yoghurt separatly in to the glass. The red goosberries, we added the fruit into the custard and yoghurt and mixed well. The parents tasting the finished results loved both and it was a tie there too!