Black Currants 2017

Tayberry is just barely hardy here, mulch it heavy. Canes should be removed that are two years old after they fruit. Current year canes should be left, like black raspberries. Disadvantages, low vigor in cold zones, hard to get going. not a tremendous producer, it takes 4 years to get a decent amount. It’s trailing and thorny. Thorns are bad, but not bad for blackberries. Still make raspberry thorns look like feathers. I use suede gloves to handle.
Scott thought they were bland, they taste like strawberries a little bit. Become a deep red when ripe. I have SWD around here, but these ripen very early for bramble hybrids. Here are some harvested June 23rd. Before SWD is here. If left to hang they become quite sweet.

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Yes, you learn the suede glove technique pretty quickly with blackberry and raspberry bushes. Long pants as well. They stick and stay when they grab into your skin.
Good suggestion on heavy mulching them. I planted three currant bushes ( read sticks) last year in that area I will plant the tayberry bushes. I am sure it will be 4 years before I get anywhere close to a real plant from the currants. They were cheaply priced and I needed that much of a $$ amount to get free shipping from a garden products store last year. If they die I will only out about $6.
Looks like the tayberry would probably not work here. My temps get -20 at times during the winters. Those my be a waste of time trying them.

Same here. 2 hrs sun, a few flowers, no fruit but look nice.

I had these types first, the ornamental types. My shade is at my cottage. in the city I get great sun. I added commercial grade elderberries in the city, and holy moly! Little plants produce like crazy! I decided to keep them small at about 3 feet.

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i just repotted my goldens i got from amazon and have them under my led in the front room to give them a head start before i transplant in may. supposedly they are the true yellow colored golden currants. i should know by next year. if they are., ill send you some cuttings. never heard of strasberry?

those the euro. elders? are they earlier producing than the american ones? i should get flowers and berries on my black lace/ beauty elders this summer. my wylewood/ bob gordons produce too late for the berries to ripen here. giving them another season. if they don’t ripen again im going to have to remove them. that should be fun! too bad as they’re huge and full of big cymes. gonna prune out the 3 yr. canes and see if that helps.

autumn britten is a low vigor raspberry i grow that has big berries and flavor. my personal favorite. the vines grow to about 5ft. and are erect and has little spines. they send up shoots but only half as much as my other varieties so they’re easy to control. they’re my earliest producing fall raspberry. i just mow mine to the ground in late fall.

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On Amazon yes, the flower is yellow, but says the fruit is red. Which is unusual. The yellow and orange fruit I have not seen. I will probably order those reds, cheap enough!

Yes 2 years ago, they are not any bigger as i whacked them down. That photo was taken June 1st 2016. It took about a month for fruit I think? So ripe by July 1st. Your zone would probably push them to August 1st for ripe berries. Maybe Sept 1st?

Yes the raspberries from the Malling institute in the UK all look good. I wish they would sell Valentia here, not the ground raspberry Valentina, the fall bearing ,orange colored berry Valentina.

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the plants they sent me were well established 12in tall plants with 5-6 branches on each plant. was surprised for the price. haven’t heard about valentina. ill keep a eye out for it. a orange raspberry sounds neat! seems like from what I’ve read, euro elders ripen earlier than their american cousins.

I think they do, but I have heard of some people having problems with them. So far I have been getting a good crop every year. I made jam, it’s OK, not great. I think it would be best used for wine.

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some people make elderberry elixir for treatment of colds and the flu. I’ve heard if you take it at onset of either it shortens the duration and severity. a a coworker of my wife buys some and uses it for her family. she says it works wonders! with the flu getting deadlier nowadays might be something to keep on hand.

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if i can get a decent crop id like to make wine. bet black currant would make fabulous wine also !

Yes, i would think so. Infusions are good too I bet. I liked my red currant vodka infusion.

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Interesting to use a candy thermometer and wait for 220 degrees. You might try 210 degrees and see if that sets a bit less.
I will try your method at 210.

My thought is based upon making caramel, which recipe calls for boiling and stirring to 245 degrees. When I stop at 215 degrees, it sets to a dipping softness suitable for tart apple wedges. Great stuff!

I have used langers or some other 100% blk current to make black currant wine, mead, cider, and blackberry-black currant wine. All were very good and very dark.

I have also had 2 home black currant wines presumably made by just fermenting mashed berries—this was also good but almost a rose both times. Jack keller mentions brief pressure cooking in his recipe to release more color and flavor and i strongly suspect he is correct…

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I just harvested a bunch of these to plant at a new rental property. A couple ways which I see rooting taking place:
1.) The tip goes back to the ground and roots, then sends up a new plant. I see this a lot more with gooseberries. With currants, they don’t bend as much, but if a side branch is close to horizontal, this happens as well. To harvest, I clip the branch, then work the new roots out of the soil.

2.) Some of my black currants are old enough that they have entire sections which I was able to split off. Here’s a pic of Goliath, where a section was leaning out into the row. Not anymore- a snip with large pruners fixed that and now it is planted at the new property. I’ll be interested to see if it has the same issues at a different site, or if it can start producing berries which live up to it’s name.

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Awesome plant! I would prune out some of the oldest canes, and some of the small ones too. let it breath some. It’s not a must do. I think it may produce better and bigger berries if not taxed as much. Thinning is not just for fruit trees. I love these plants, and you should make backups. People like Mrsg with very old plants report that they sometimes just die.

I have a Goliath from you. It’s getting big too. All had their first berries last year as the years just keep rolling by! I bought some chocolates with Merlot grapes and black currant chewy centers. Man they were very good! Almost tasted like wine! Makes me think some wine grapes might be good for flavor, if you can stand the seeds and skin.

Since these plants get so big I’m not that concerned about production.

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I have four Bc cultivars, one unnamed which fell over with slender canes the first year, I call Orphan. When held together with a string for a season the canes remain upright on their own. The others are Ben More, Westwick and Black September in its second year. Last year a seedling came up and I replanted it where there was room. Another is coming up now, which I will probably re-plant on the NW side of an apple tree.

I know: cheep, cheep.

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I am disappointed with the flavor of my Tatania I planted from bare root this spring. Fruits are rather peculiar in flavor, not sour, not bitter, but musky.

Black currants are all a bit musky. Over the past 35 years I have planted and eaten many varieties. Ben Serak is still my favorite ‘full-flavored’ black currant, and of good size! It is sn excellent standard for an honest taste of black currant. The only others I would like to try are from Austria and Romania. If you are not used to the distinctive flavor of black currant add more sugar. There are a few varieties from Russia that are sweeter, perhaps those would be more to your liking. All of mine end up in the jam pot or turned into gelato! Both are the best! You cannot eat mine off off the plant when ripe. Too sour! Also how can you hate a berry that insects don’t bother?

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