QUESTIONS ABOUT GOOSEBERRIES

Are they sweet?
No gooseberries are tart but can turn slightly sweeter when they turn red. Some gooseberries claim to be sweet but those are mostly tasteless (in our opinion). Gooseberries are prized because they are tart. They are most often used in the green to pink stage when they are most tart and have the best flavor. This is not an eat out of the hand fruit.

Do they come with stalks?
Yep they do. Gooseberries are attached to the plant with little stalks, when they are picked these stalks come off along with the fruit. If we had to sit around and pick off all the stalks it would take a LONG time and would put the price of the berries up to at least twice the price due to the labor costs. So you get the stalks too.
If the fruit is frozen the stalks tend to fall off so frozen gooseberries most often don't come with stalks.

Are stalks a problem?
Mostly no. It depends on what you want to use the berries for. If you are making fool or some other dessert you will most likely want to take them off. If you are using them in a smoothie (which we think is the best use) then they can go into the blender with stalks and all. If you blender is good enough the stalks get blended down as well and are not even noticed.

Do gooseberries have seeds?
Yes little ones, the fruit is eaten with the seeds in it.

What do you use gooseberries for?
Lots of different desserts or preserves. They are tart which is unusual most fruits in America are sweet. Tart is more popular in Europe. Tart is also good for your digestion having different kinds of tastes and flavors helps stimulate the digestive tract to work more effectively. Check out our recipe page for what to do with the fruit.

Do you use any chemicals during growing?
NO none at all. All our gooseberries get is water and organic compost. We never spray anything on our bushes or fruit.

Have the gooseberries been washed?
Yes we wash and grade all our gooseberries. They have been washed once, we do however recommend that you wash them again before use just to be sure.

Since they have not been sprayed with anything why do I need to wash them?
Well lots of other things live outside on our farm (and anywhere else for that matter). Birds fly over our berry patches, insects most likely crawl on them, and, lets face it, everything poops. So to ensure you don't have any 'extra material' on your berries (or anything else you buy in any store for that matter) wash it first.

What size are the berries?
We grade all our berries so mostly you will get berries over 3/8" (0.95 cm) in diameter with some as large as ¾" (1.90 cm). Sometimes there will be smaller ones if they are attached by stalk to a larger ones.

Can I get smaller berries if I want them?
Yes but you need to email or call us to arrange it.

What do I do with Gooseberries?
There are dozens of recipes on the internet we have listed a few of our favorites and some we have come up with here.

How do I store gooseberries?.
They keep very well in the refrigerator. Green gooseberries can keep for weeks if stored in a ventilated container and will slowly ripen from pink to red.

How long do gooseberries keep.
Green ones can keep for up to a month if stored in ventilated containers in the refrigerator. They will slowly turn pink then red. Ripe red gooseberries don't keep as long but they can still last a week or more if kept correctly. Don't store in plastic containers with lids on they will ripen fast and go mushy.

GOOSEBERRY LINKS