"Picked the first of the smooth pink berries today. Gave one to Thomas. He said it tasted like a plum and a rose had a child. No boiling needed. We ate them raw with cream."
By 1870, the was listed in a Herefordshire nursery catalogue. The description read: "A dessert gooseberry of the highest quality. Skin thin, translucent, of a honey-amber blush. Flesh melting, with a high sugar content and a distinct note of apricot. Unsurpassed for eating raw. Requires a sheltered wall." Why the Gooseberry Disappeared If the Anna Ralphs was so delicious, why don't we have it today? anna ralphs gooseberry
It is demanding. You need a deep, moisture-retentive but free-draining loam. pH must be between 6.0 and 6.8. Add copious amounts of well-rotted manure in the autumn before planting. "Picked the first of the smooth pink berries today
Anna’s mutant was different. The berry was larger than a cherry, pale golden-pink like a sunset, and crucially, hairless. In her diary (entry dated July 12, 1861), she wrote: No boiling needed
In the United States, gooseberries were caught in the crossfire of White Pine Blister Rust control. A federal ban forced farmers to destroy Ribes plants. Many European heirlooms never made the transatlantic journey, and those that did were lost to the axe.
One such name is .