Mike Lyle wrote:
Cat(h) wrote:
[...]
When can I expect to harvest gooseberries, and am I naive to expect
they might get *just a little* sweeter???
[...]

It sounds as though you want them for dessert purposes, but of course
they don't need to be perfectly ripe for cooking. And if you want to
make wine, then IMO unripe ones give a much _better_ flavour than ripe.

I find the red cultivars are better for dessert purposes. Sadly this
years cold snap has allowed mildew to cause some trouble. But OTOH I
have my first serious crop of Jostaberries (3 years after planting).
Quite a vigorous bush if you have the space - gooseberry blackcurrant
hybrid with very large ovoid blackcurrant fruits. Much less topping and
tailing needed to fill a fruit pie.

Keeping the bords off them is non-trivial but they seem to crop well
even in N Yorks.

Regards,
Martin Brown