A Reminder that Gifts are Meant to be Enjoyed
Peppered on the landscape in unsightly bunches, a hideous old bush from the currant family grows. Rife with gnarly long thorns and expertly tangled shoots, gooseberry can be a prolific beast. If you find one while roaming through forest and foothill, you might advert your eyes as one does to strangers on the street.
But look closely enough, and you might spot the beautiful berries laden inside this nasty thicket dotting ditches and streams. While tough for us tender-skinned scavengers to harvest, these berries offer a robust buffet for many a bird or bear.
Providing clever shelter for small critters, the gooseberry’s mangled thickets may seem a mess, but they carry a most generous gift. The berries are tart and bold, an explosion of natural flavor. Loaded with vitamin C and fiber, these little gems are a native superfood of the Rocky Mountain landscape. Small wild gooseberries upstage domestic blueberries in most any dish, while scars from harvesting provide extra street cred.
The gooseberry bush’s long thorns deter animals from browsing leaves and stems, protecting the small fruits inside for flittering feathered friends that can easily perch and pluck its berries. And after devouring the little orbs, birds pass along the favor by dispersing seed all around. The gift giving is entirely mutual.
When left to our own devices, we, like the gooseberry bush, are coming into our own fullness during the summer season. Having made another trip around the sun, we’ve composted the year before, planted new dreams for days ahead, and with any luck, will see something bloom. We have only to listen to our hearts to hear the music of our own unfolding, the generous gifts that we too carry, hidden in the messy thicket of our lives.
Now, what do we do with gifts? Especially tasty wild ones? Why, we eat them, of course. And gifts are to be accepted with gratitude, enjoyed with delight, and shared with abundance.
Before you go harvesting, be prepared. Wear very thick long sleeves like heavy flannel, plus leather gloves, and you may even want a face protector, as the best berries are undoubtedly in the middle of the prickle bush. Simply reach them by extending every inch of arm, neck, and face off kilter and fall into the bush, or else you just haven’t honored the bush with adequate effort.
In Montana, particularly around homesteads and stream edges, you can find a great many gooseberries growing wild and prolific. White Stem Gooseberries are particularly common, with their whitish flowers and deep purple to black fruit. A common trait of native species, their many tiny flowers benefit the pollinators which prefer nectar quantity to petal size.
White Stem Gooseberries come into fruit in the late part of June and begin green, keeping them hidden in the leaves until seeds are viable and ready to be dispersed. As the summer wanes into late July and August, there is a spike in ethanol, a hormone released to convert the starches into sugars, making the berries more palatable and visible as they turn into a dark purple. This signals to the birds that the berries are ready to be eaten. They are sweeter, more noticeable, and the seeds have become viable.
They can be eaten fresh and tart off the canes, warm from the sun, and they freeze remarkably well for later use. As with any wild foraging, remember to harvest responsibly and respectfully. Refresh on local laws, be informed about public and private land, and harvest less than 20 percent of the fruit so as to leave heaps for the wildlife to feed on as they prepare for the winter months ahead.
Gooseberries can be used in most any recipe calling for a tart fruit. Try replacing blueberries with gooseberries in muffins, pancakes, and waffles. Consider gooseberry syrup for a delectable drizzle and gooseberry filling for a hearty pie or crisp. Sprinkle berries fresh on yogurt or morning oats. Pair with salads and savories that hold up to the tartness, in a similar fashion to pomegranate: Think a harvest spinach salad with balsamic and winter squash. It pairs well with salty fetas and nutty parmesans. Add hints of mint, cumin, cinnamon, and onion. Go wild with cocktails, simple syrups, shrubs, and sorbets. Classic ice creams and frozen yogurts play well with the berry’s tart punch.
Gooseberries are a generous gift from our forests. While the unsightly and wickedly sharp stems might disguise what truly lies beneath, the berries are meant to be enjoyed in balance and fill bellies full of light and joy. Thank you, gooseberries, for offering your abundance. May we steward its full expression into the world.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ON THE GOOSEBERRY
Montana Field Guide
fieldguide.mt.gov/displaySpecies.aspx?family=Grossulariaceae
MSU Extension
Contact your county extension office to request resources local to your area.
MSU MontGuide
“Growing Cold-Hardy Berries and Small Fruits in Montana” at extension-store.montana.edu.
Montana Berry Growers Association
montanaberries.org/gooseberries
