Gardening: Gooseberries offer many health benefits

Fiann Ó Nualláin tackles a thorny subject with gusto as he reveals the benefits of a nutrient-dense berry.

When I was younger I wasn’t a big fan of gooseberries (Ribes uva-crispa), my grandfather had a few bushes between the roses in his small front garden in Dublin and it was the thorniest plant I ever encountered but I swear it was crossed with a triffid — as no matter how slow and careful you would be, you would never get your hand out of its mouth with a fruit, without it turning its teeth toward you.

Even today if I look close enough there are the traces of the scars — physical and emotional.