On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:32:28 +0200, Emery Davis& I wrote:
But now I am puzzled because 20-25 is no age at all for gooseberries,
we have been here 30y and the goosberry bushes were already here when
we arrived.

Walt, I was under the impression that they weren't long lived, and based my
estimate of age on that. They were already gnarly but cropped well still when
we bought the house 15 years ago. In fact they might well have been 60.

Not sure where I had my impression from, but suspect I read it somewhere
(which does not necessarily imply reliability.)

Yes indeed, and by the same token, I only have that one book ref. to
hand at the mo.
( I've not exhaustively studied gooseberry literature !)
but it is in line with our own statistical sample (!) of one that
after 30y they still seem to crop just the same, some good years and
some poor years.

BTW. that washing soda treatment is good for onion foliage mildew as
well !

I wonder if anyone else can
weigh in with information on the useful lifetime.

I would be interested also.

and now that I have a bit more leisure time to spare,
what were the species used in those 'giant gooseberry' competitions of
yesteryear ? That could be fun, in a sorta way !