All the rubbish has been gathered up ready for collection, with the exception of the tarpaulin which has a bees nest in it. That will have to wait until the Autumn when the nest dies off. Well done everyone who helped.
Blackbirds were having a Jostaberry feast...
....so Robert and I have just picked and frozen 4.2 kilos of ripe berries. There will be more ripening over the next few days. We only got 3.65 kilos last year from one pick, but that was later on and I suspect the birds had had a lot before we got to them!
A little information on Jostaberries, courtesy of https://specialtyproduce.com/, just in case you have not heard of these before!
Jostaberries are purple berries that grow on thornless bushes with deeply-veined green leaves that feature serrated edges and irregular lobes. When young, the berries are a light green, and closely resemble a small gooseberry. They hang firmly on their stems, in clusters of three to five. As they mature, they deepen in color, going from green to red before they turn a glossy violet-black, indicating that they are ripe. Each berry can grow to 10 millimeters in diameter. The tangy-sweet berries taste of gooseberries with a slight flavor of black currant and grape.
Jostaberries are a cross between the black currant, the Northern American coastal black gooseberry and the European gooseberry. They are botanically classified as Ribes nidigrolaria. The name Jostaberry, pronounced “yusta-berry”, comes from the German word for gooseberry (Johanisbeere), and black currant (Stachelbeere). Jostaberries are sometimes referred to as Goose Currants, and each berry is larger, and generally sweeter, than a gooseberry or a black currant. Jostaberries are not widely cultivated, in part because it can take four to five years for a plant to produce a decent crop of berries (around 5 kilograms per bush).
Jostaberries may be eaten fresh. They also are used to make jams, relishes and chutneys. They can be found in desserts such as pies and crumbles and can be processed to make cordials and fruit wines. Jostaberries can be stored for a few days in the refrigerator. They may be frozen after being washed, and the stems removed. They can last for several months in the freezer.
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