Heaven on Earth

Heaven on Earth

Monday, August 1, 2011

What cost Memories ? (or how much is that gooseberry pie?)


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 5  6 thousand more to clean.


  1. Cost of gooseberry bush: $30.00
  2. 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
  3. Cost of pie ingredients: $3.00
  4. Cost of labor to make pie: 1 hr @ $8.00/hr; $8.00  *(refer to number 2 above)
  5. Total cost of gooseberry pie: $97.00
  6. Memories of childhood gooseberry pie: Priceless (according to my husband); please note that he is not the one responsible for making said pie.

I'm not sure this pie was as good as B remembered.  It was tart!!!  Must be an acquired taste.  The crust was good.  And just in case you are wondering; we are not planting any more gooseberry bushes.

13 comments:

  1. Well it's a gorgeous pie. lol I had no idea they were that much work.

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  2. Well I think it looks PRICELESS!

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  3. I've never tried gooseberries. So nice of you to go to all that work for your guy. :)

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  4. I 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.

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  5. You'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!

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  6. It's been childhood since I had a slice of gooseberry pie. It was worth it!!! Right? Happy hubby.

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  7. LOL!
    I'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

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  8. I remember many a gooseberry pie and foll when growing up since mom had several bushes in the garden.

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  9. Beautiful 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.
    Laura V.
    Bergisch Gladbach, Germany

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  10. 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.

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  11. Your 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.

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  12. That 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!
    I had no idea what a gooseberry looked like!

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  13. I have never even SEEN gooseberries! They look like teeny watermelons:) Your pie certainly looks beautiful. I bet the ice cream helped:)

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