Spring 2010
Mr. City Home: “We should plant some gooseberry bushes. I remember my grandfather having one in his yard and once in a while my mother would make a pie.”
Me: “We'll plant one bush. If it does well we can plant more.”
July 2011
The gooseberry bush grew very“well” and today I picked our first crop; for hours, and hours I picked.
The bush has thorns; lots of them. Gooseberries are small and difficult to pick. They also need to be cleaned before eating, and they have a stem and a blossom that need to be pinched off.
After 2 hours...several hundred gooseberries cleaned and only 4 5 6 thousand more to clean.
- Cost of gooseberry bush: $30.00
- Cost of labor to pick and clean the gooseberries for pie: 7 hours@ $8.00/hr (that’s about minimum wage, although I think my time is worth more); $56.00
- Cost of pie ingredients: $3.00
- Cost of labor to make pie: 1 hr @ $8.00/hr; $8.00 *(refer to number 2 above)
- Total cost of gooseberry pie: $97.00
- Memories of childhood gooseberry pie: Priceless (according to my husband); please note that he is not the one responsible for making said pie.
Well it's a gorgeous pie. lol I had no idea they were that much work.
ReplyDeleteWell I think it looks PRICELESS!
ReplyDeleteI've never tried gooseberries. So nice of you to go to all that work for your guy. :)
ReplyDeleteI was happy to do it for him Valerie. Too bad the pie didn't live up to his memories. It really wasn't good at all. Yucch. The good news is that I don't have to clean those gooseberries again. The birds will have to eat them.
ReplyDeleteYou're so funny! Have you thought about drowning them in sugar? I've never had gooseberries before so I have no idea what I'm talking about!
ReplyDeleteIt's been childhood since I had a slice of gooseberry pie. It was worth it!!! Right? Happy hubby.
ReplyDeleteLOL!
ReplyDeleteI've never had gooseberry pie, but my grandparents had some bushes and I think she only made one pie a year, just for Grandpa.
It looks scrumptch.
I just picked some rhubarb....late, yes, but it still looks good. We've had a late-blooming kind of garden year.
Jody
I remember many a gooseberry pie and foll when growing up since mom had several bushes in the garden.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful blog! I completely sympathize with you on the berry picking and labor involved. I just finished off several currant bushes here over the last few weeks and cleaning, de-stemming and making jelly with them. Quite a hassle and not worth selling I can tell you that, otherwise I'd have to charge over $50 for a pint sized jar! Thanks for bringing up that sentiment because I was beginning to wonder if anyone else thought this way too.
ReplyDeleteLaura V.
Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
oh! i love gooseberries! Haven't had them in so long but this pie is tantalizing and makes me want to seek them out... i haven't even picked berries in yeeeears! how fun would that be, though yes, very intense and tiring. So nice finding your blog. I <3 your banner picture.
ReplyDeleteYour story was priceless. I've had gooseberry conserve in Germany. I like it but they only serve about a spoonful alongside roasted pork. Now I know why the portion is so small.
ReplyDeleteThat is a riot. It reminds me of when I add up the cost of our wild game. Even though I don't care for it, I know it's the most expensive meat I'll ever eat!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea what a gooseberry looked like!
I have never even SEEN gooseberries! They look like teeny watermelons:) Your pie certainly looks beautiful. I bet the ice cream helped:)
ReplyDelete