Gooseberries!

I am becoming such a provincial home body. I know this because

I'm happy when the honeysuckle flowers

I'm ecstatic about the irises

but aove all, I am turning cartwheels (well, Iwould if I still could) about the gooseberries.

You can hardly buy them in the shops at all, goodness knows why not. They are so delicious and competely unlike anything else, and this year, for the first time, our gooseberry bushes are heavy with them. It's the story of my life, I get a garden they way I want it and then we move house. Decades ago gooseberry picking was a nasty job because they were prickly, but now you can get smooth varieties so when you pick them they don't fight back.

SO you fill a basket with them and they glow at you, with their delicate, Regency striped skin and the pips hiding inside. Show them a little heat, water an sugar and they burst into zinginess. You can crumble them, pie them, or completely fool the things with a bit of cream. And you can share them with your family and friends, who will be delighted, because, I said, you can't buy them in the shops these days. I asked a few friends what they thought.

- Gooseberries? I don't know why she's making a fuss. They're all over the island. I know some very good bushes in the Tangletwigs, but my Lady didn't like them. The taste was too sharp for her delicate nature, I suppose - Gleaner

- Ooh, I love goosegogs, me, I can tell you where to find 'em if you want some, but just you mind them thorns - Apple

- There are prickly thorns so you have to take care. I'm going to pick some for my Mum - Hope

- I cook them very lightly with a little sugar, maybe just a taste of vanilla, cool them and serve them in the thinnest pastry with a dusting of fine sugar. The Queen is very fond of them - Crackle

- Yes please. A gooseberry bush means something in the Threadings. Give me a minute and I'll remember what it is - Urchin