Oh Sharon. Fabulous article made me think of my own childhood. We had gooseberries in our garden all the time I was growing up. My mom would use them for cooking and I have eaten them raw. Not my favorite fruit to eat raw but as a kid I would eat all sorts of fruits. I was the one that had to pick them and yes, they had nasty thorns.

Thanks Sharon ,You brought back a lot of Memories. I grew up in Southwest Va.. Closest town away was up & over the Mountain ,Jenkins Ky. Took about 45 minutes to drive there, but if they had drilled a tunnel straight thru from center of town to center of Jenkins You could have walked it in 10 min.at the most
coal mining didn't appeal to me i left as soon as i turned 18 in 1958.
cliff

Cliff!!!! That just made my heart do flips. You must have lived close to Pound, I reckon! We grew up about 10 minutes apart if we could have walked through that tunnel. And the timing is right too, but I was 2 years behind you. I left in '60 to go to college. Did you ever come to the old Jenkins drive-in? Or to the custard stand that was at the top at the junction, if you turned right you'd be in Virginia and left you could go down the hill to Jenkins.

Cliff, we really need to talk, this is incredibly delightful. Feels Iike I know you already. I always tell people that if I climbed to the top of the mountain which was my back yard, I'd step down to the other side and be in Virginia.
Thanks so much for writing.

RIta, got so excited to hear from an almost next- door- grown- up- now neighbor, I almost missed your words. Thank you! Now I know they grew in NY as well, and we can claim that we share gooseberry memories!!

I always found them easy to grow but my moms were just not a fruit most people would like. They were green and hard. Even ripe they were not truly soft. Later as an adult I tried today's more modern varieties and they were not as sour but still not a fruit that I could get excited over. I think yes great for baking but I don't bother. Too lazy!

Mom grew red currants too. Now those I loved and I have many red currant shrubs in my yards now also.

I loved them, crunchy and sour. I haven't tasted them in years but there's no way one can forget that taste!

Nope, can't forget the taste of either red currants or Gooseberries.

I love the photo of the beardie peeking out of the sleeve, Cliff!

Renee,
He was a little guy then . Now when he tries that , He gets stuck & i gotta take the shirt off to get him out
Sharon-Yes i grew up at "The Pound" lived just past the cutoff to the High School and I would have graduated in 1960 if i had stayed. Haven't been back down there since 86 when my uncle died. didn't see a person that i once knew while i was there.
cliff

I enjoyed the article Sharon! A friend raved about how good gooseberries were, so I found some to plant last spring. I was surprised to harvest a small handful that summer, and OMG, my friend was right. I absolutely love 'em, when they're RIPE! I'm not a SweetTart kinda girl, lol. I had to get my Pixwell gooseberry plants from a nursery out west. I could not find any place that offered them around here.

Thanks for the article,
--
Bev

You shoulda just climbed across that mountain to the KY side, Bev --bet you would have found them there!
So glad you found some gooseberries, maybe the green ones are an acquired taste.
Thank you! It's always nice to see you.