The Barbados Gooseberry
So a few years I purchased a thorny vine from Agrofest and was told it was called Asian gooseberry, however, as with everything I plant, I was online searching for this plant to find out about its growing requirements, history etc and could find nothing. Well, as is usually the case after Agrofest, I decided on which saplings to keep at my urban home and which to plant on my parents property in the country and the gooseberry went off to my brothers house.
After about a year and visit after visit I realised no-one was eating the fruit, so I dug up the entire thing and returned it to my yard. I recalled having a similar fruit at Champers with my desert and was not about to let this fruit go wasted. So, it's back in my yard and I decide to conduct an image search of gooseberry vines,
I finally found my vine and low and behold the Pereskia Aculeata is better known as "Barbados Gooseberry". I swear Barbados never ceases to amaze me but this had me baffled. I have never seen this fruit before in my life in Barbados so why this name? I was truly intrigued and had to do some more digging.
As it turns out, the Pereskia is extremely invasive and is a declared weed in South Africa where it has invaded forest and smothered many indigenous plants. Could this be why the plant is no longer seen in Barbados? Was it a threat to local flora? I will continue to investigate.
The thorny little vine however is a great food source once controlled. Both leaves and fruits are edible and boasts high protein, iron and mineral content. I would also imagine that as a gooseberry, the little fruits are packed with Vitamin C.
After about a year and visit after visit I realised no-one was eating the fruit, so I dug up the entire thing and returned it to my yard. I recalled having a similar fruit at Champers with my desert and was not about to let this fruit go wasted. So, it's back in my yard and I decide to conduct an image search of gooseberry vines,
I finally found my vine and low and behold the Pereskia Aculeata is better known as "Barbados Gooseberry". I swear Barbados never ceases to amaze me but this had me baffled. I have never seen this fruit before in my life in Barbados so why this name? I was truly intrigued and had to do some more digging.
As it turns out, the Pereskia is extremely invasive and is a declared weed in South Africa where it has invaded forest and smothered many indigenous plants. Could this be why the plant is no longer seen in Barbados? Was it a threat to local flora? I will continue to investigate.
The thorny little vine however is a great food source once controlled. Both leaves and fruits are edible and boasts high protein, iron and mineral content. I would also imagine that as a gooseberry, the little fruits are packed with Vitamin C.
Just the paper soft white flowers make growing this plant worthwhile
Flowers eventually give away to little berries
I know the fruit are filled with many tiny seeds, yet, I find it absolutely amazing that leaves even continue to grow from the fruits!
My daughter describes the taste as similar to a tomato cherry mixed with an Acerola cherry. I thought they would be much tarter but the taste is quite mild.
I can't wait to eat some of these out of hand but I also hope to have enough fruit for some gooseberry preserves! will let you know how that goes.
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