I’m glad to hear that you found a gooseberry that works in TN. I’m in zone 6b East TN and my supposedly disease-resistant Honnimaki Red gooseberry loses its leaves every year. My jostaberry behaves like yours does, so I’ll probably give it one more season before removal.
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How did you like them? I was sampling them this year and they were very astringent and sour for me. Not sure if it was because they were not ripened enough or not as one day a critter ate all of them 
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We have about 50 Jostaberries 2 oe 3 varieties, I dont prefer them over other berries. But if you want something that can grow 6 foot tall and make berries Jostaberry is what you want.
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@lmvian … back early this spring… there was talk here in a post of the Jeanne goosberry doing well in Tennessee. That is why I decided to give it a try. It grew well this year but did drop some leaves during our summer and early fall drought. I watered it several times and here at the end of the season it still has some leaves.
Hoping that it does well next spring and summer and I get to try a gooseberry for the first time.
I planted the goosberry and Crandall clove currant in a location where they will get morning sun… noon sun… but will be shaded from 2-3 pm on.
@Lucas… on the taste of the Crandall clove currants… I harvested small hand fulls of berries over a few weeks… picked them when they turned black… mostly… did try a few just as they were leaving the red stage.
The first harvest… they were pretty much nasty… just tart with a little juice… not something I would want to keep.
But each harvest after that they got a little better. Finally the last harvest it had gotten good and hot here and they tasted much better. A little… just a little sweetness could be detected.
I am hoping they might be like my gerardi mulberry and improve on flavor a lot with more time.
TNHunter
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Sounds like a similar experience to me. Will have to see how they do next year lol. Thanks for the info.
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I have several clove currant bushes planted. Here, the summers are hot with multiple days over 100 degrees. They do fine in full sun. I find that the berries are sour and not very palatable right after they turn black, but if you let them hang for several days, maybe even two weeks more, they are great. You know they are ready when the berry has a little give when squeezed and falls of the bush into your hand with the slightest pressure. Then they are sweet with a somewhat grape like flavor.
My Jostaberries are monsters, but I prefer gooseberries and the clover currants for eating.
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I also have a Crandall currant and came to the same conclusions you did about the relationship between berry flavor and harvest time. Next year I’ll probably wait at least a week after the berries turn black before trying to harvest them. Indeed, they’re downright scrumptious when actually ripe.
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On the Crandall clove currants… that last harvest I did they had hung on the bush a while and our temps had warmed up quite a bit. They did taste much better… but not near a concord grape yet. Perhaps next season they will get there.
The problem with most berries that turn ripe color but have to hang another week or so… is BIRDS… they get them before I do.
I had that problem with honey berry.
But with the CCC I could not tell that the birds were bothering them at all. The berries are sort of tucked down under the leaves near the stalk.
TNHunter
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A Concord grape is sweeter than a Crandall current and much juicier. A Crandall is still good though when fully ripe!
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@iowacity … i have had a concord grape vine… 18 years or so… intense flavor, tart and sweet.
If Crandall only gets half or one quarter the way there… it would still be very good… especially ripening late spring early summer. My Concords ripen late August.
I dont expect perfection first year on tree or bush fruit… I bet next year it will improve hopefully quite a bit.
My gerardi mulberry improved significantly in year 2 and 3.
TNHunter
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Another golden currant cultivar to look at is Missouri Giant. I have one the fruited for the first time this year. I thought the fruit quality was slightly better than Crandall. I did not brix test it but I seemed to be a little sweeter with a slightly richer flavor. It wasn’t a huge difference, but it was noticeable.
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I’ve kind of put currants in the novelty category. With Crandal you really have to let them hang a long time after coloring or they are just trash. The white and pink currants I have are pretty much just ok. Jostaberry also. Gooseberry is still in the good category for me though. The gooseberries all have their own unique taste and most are pretty sweet.
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that’s exactly how i got mine too but it was 9$ on my end.
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Booo jealous yours was cheaper! Haha
They only had like 4 there, same with currant and gooseberry. They had some others in the store that were I think 10.99, and like 1/3 of the size. These ones in the pots were really nice. It’s growing inside right now with the rest of the stuff I’m gonna plant mid March/late march
Wish they had more than red lake and pixwell 
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I have an unknown random Jostaberry. It’s been in the ground maybe 4 years. It grows well. It’s a decent sized bush now. A pretty plant. But it doesn’t produce almost any berries in comparison to other plants I have. I’ll keep it because it was a gift but I wouldn’t rely on it to sustain any calories.
I planted a couple more Jostas last year, red, black and another. Hopefully it’s a pollination issue and I’ll be swimming in berries soon enough.
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This is good to hear–that it did way better in a location with afternoon shade and better soil. I planted one in full sun, and it’s hardly grown at all in two years. I will definitely get one started in a new location!
The few berries my jostaberry made the first year were very bland, and I considered pulling it that first year, but then the next year they were very tasty–WAY more interesting (to me) than the bland mushy probably Pixwell gooseberries (which make a gazillion berries), though not as good as the (few) Hannimaki red gooseberries I got.
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