How do you know when gooseberries are ready? When can I move gooseberry bush?

[kerryp]

Hi, the guy on the plot next to our allotment has given it up but he has a mass of gooseberries that are for whoever picks them first... How do I know when ready? They seem to be growing faster/earlier than most others on the allotments nearby &some I tasted today seemed fine. Would they be ready now?

Also when is the earliest I could move the bush without doing it much damage? I've been told that I can have the bushes if I move them but I don't want to cause damage to the bushes....

Thanks

[boundtothesoil]

I pick my gooseberries when they are still hard and pretty sour, but do it weekly over about three weeks, leaving fruit smaller than a twenty pence piece. Thinning out the bushes in this way encourages the remaining berries to expand a bit more. Others prefer to leave the fruit until they've softened a bit and are significantly sweeter, although, eventually, they start to rot on the branch, if the blackbirds don't move in.

[Scarlet]

Pigeons are tucking into mine, the blackbirds prefer my raspberries!
I've started picking the bigger fruit already. They are still hard and a little sour though perfect for gooseberry curd.

[Nicos]

If you think they taste OK then pick them now.
The longer you leave them the sweeter they will get.

If you puck the picked fruit in a paper bag and leave it somewhere dark in the house they will continue to sweeten. The paper bag keeps the fruit flies off them

I seem to recall they don't like having their roots disturbed, so take as much rootball as you can with it.

I don't know much about fruit bushes but I would think it'd be better to leave it until the leaves have dropped off, but I think you are pressed for time?
Not sure if pruning it would help it prior to moving????

[BUFFS]

I give them a good soak the day before and then dig up and move it to where I want it(after picking the fruit of course) and a good soak after replanting, I prune out unwanted shoots but no more and never had any problems so far, plants want to thrive so I give them what they need and let them get on with it, its a waste of time mollycoddling any plant, it just makes them soft so just give them the essentials and stand back to let them grow.....