Goosegogs

I never did like gooseberries that much and after yesterday I like them even less, the vicious thorny little *****! My only culinary memory is of school dinner gooseberry pie but Nikki and Alison assure me that the pain is worth it and that these venerable bushes produce the best fruit ever, so maybe I shall have to give them another go come summer. Despite having thorn proof gloves on the evil points still found their way through the odd vulnerable spot and in particular my wrists have suffered, now I know why some gardeners wear gauntlets. The thing with pruning the awful beasties is that you've got to thin out the crown to have a hope of being able to pick the fruit later on, so you have to fight your way in, it makes sense that you find babies under gooseberry bushes as no harm would come to anything protected by those weapons! No hope of any planting as the frost gets deeper and deeper but each and every weed has been turned into a thing of beauty.

"Teachers who inspire know that teaching is like cultivating a garden, and those who would have nothing to do with thorns must never attempt to gather flowers" Anon.
Rest in peace Muffy guinea pig-last of the smalls.