WORCESTER
Vorig jaar verscheen een bijdrage van mij in THE FRUIT NEWS van de FRIENDS OF BROGDALE.
In Wisley had ik de Worcester (spreek uit woester) berry verschillende keren gezien. De Royal Horticultural Society schrijft in haar boek ‘Fruit’ dat de Worcester slechts weinig draagt.
Geen wonder als je de plant totaal ‘mismeestert’!
WORCESTER BERRY
The Worcester berry is often described as a cross between a gooseberry and a currant, but it is now believed to be a form of the North American species, Ribes divaricatum. The fruit is black, smaller than a gooseberry, but larger than a currant and fairly sharp. The bush is thorny and has the appearance of a gooseberry, but is much more vigorous.
My Worcester berry and the related Black Velvet are big shrubs. A single
Black Velvet is almost 2 meters high, even when shortened, and 8 meters in circumference, although I cut out lots of wood. Every year I have a large crop of fruit. I like the strong taste of the ripe berries and Black Velvet is not quite as acid as Worcester berry. In contrast to gooseberries, they last for a long time, but this does depend on the weather. Last year, 2003, with the very hot July they were finished by the end of the month, although screening from the sun's heat will prolong their season. Usually, they are still good at the beginning of August and I remember that in a cool summer, I picked ripe berries in September.
Most gardening books recommend that you treat the Worcester berry like a gooseberry, but I am not sure that this is correct. One winter some years ago I saw a Worcester berry that had been hard pruned back to wrist thick sticks, with very short side branches. When I came back in summer, I saw only new wood and no fruit. Radical pruning like this is not the correct approach for such a vigorous plant. I merely thin out the branches and keep the bush to a manageable size. The fruit has to be protected against birds. I used normal netting, but now I favor old insect enviromesh which is mainly used for protecting crops such as carrots and leeks, against insects. The mesh is very small so that there is less hassle, but even so, with sharp prickles, you have to work carefully. For protecting strawberries, for example, is it far superior to normal netting, with the added bonus of no more need to cut out the hedgehogs caught up in the nets!
Both the Worcester berry and Black Velvet are totally disease free. Only the sawfly caterpillars (Nematus ribesii) can be a problem, but they cannot eat the whole bush, as they might do with gooseberries!
Fruit News Summer 2004
Daniel Willaeys Daniel Willaeys gardens in Halle-Zoersel, nr Antwerp, Belgium. The garden has been totally organic for 41 years.



1 reactie op dit bericht
Foto van de Worchesterberry
Is bij mij ook een groot succes!
Guy
http://www.houtwal.be