Black currants are usually grown for cooking, not eating fresh. There are certain varieties that are sweeter.
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Derek-
Have you done that with pie cherry pits?
Thanks,
John S
PDX OR
Ive done both that and planted in ground in the fall before freeze. They usually start sprouting in the fridge around January if I remember correctly. I havent grown any of the cherries indoors tho yet. Here are some carmine jewel in my fridge right now.
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I sprouted some sweet cherry seeds once by accident. I was eating them and spitting them in a coffee can. I left the can against the house till spring. When the snow melted I looked inside and had a bunch of sprouts! I had some sprout in a pickup bed liner along with maple seeds too.
Yes mother nature has the greenest of thumbs no doubt! I like germinating outside. With onions I found out that the light cycle is everything. They will do better if grown under it from the start. Artificial lights on over 12 hours makes them want to bulb up even as seedlings, so best to give them 8 hours only, but I would have to dedicate lights to them, I can’t do that. So this year I’m germinating onion seeds outside.
i let mine hang till they’re starting to wrinkle. by then they are as sweet as they are ever going to be. birds don’t bother my consorts but they love the crandall. must be they don’t like the musky smell?
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I have about six different varieties of currants and the birds seem to eat all of them. Last year they ate more fruit than i did. This year i will be using bird netting.
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As a guy from Russia I like blackcurrants more than most other berries. I like strong taste of them and it’s hard to keep myself from eating them fresh.
But the best way to prepare them is to mix 1x1 with sugar and blend on food processor. Do not warm or boil. Put result in a fridge. It’s amazing.
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i do similar but less sugar. i jar and freeze the rest. i too like them fresh off the bush. its a acquired taste.
Right, a bit less sugar is better.
My wife likes this stuff on the top of ice cream 
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I don’t even like the smell of black consort foliage! I made some jam with my first crop from it. The jam also smells like cat pee. Yuck! That bush will be for the birds, although the birds didn’t bother it, either. I hope my other black currants will taste better (Ben Sarak and Belaruskaya).
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Ha! My Titania sounds like that northwoodswis4
I think Ben More and Jostaberry are better.
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Shows how or likes and dislikes vary. I like black currents but removed my Jostaberry.
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and yogurt!
i have 4 tiben grown from cuttings that are 4ft now and should give me a good crop next year. heard they aren’t as strong tasting as older varieties. can’t wait to try them. i love the smell of these plants! glad the birds and bugs don’t like them. i sure do!
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I love black currants, I do like raspberries too, I would be happy just growing these two plants. I have never tasted cat pee, I have smelled it, and to me fig trees smell like cat pee.
I like them too, and pluots…My 4 most favorite fruits.
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have you tried mixing currant and raspberry in jam? i made a few jars and its awesome! sure wish i could grow figs here. Jesse S grows them but he’s a zone and a half warmer than me. if i can afford to put on my lean to greenhouse attached to the s. side of the house , next spring. i should be able to grow all kinds of warmer weather fruit.
I may not ‘love’ black currants raw, but I will eat a few. The jelly and jam…now I would just as soon have as grape or strawberry.
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I like to make syrup and use it to flavor water. I have a hard time drinking enough water, and this helps. I sometimes use no sugar either. Everybody has to find what works for them. I can understand not liking the taste. Many food items I can’t stand either.
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made some concord grape jam last fall from grapes that hung so long on the vine they would squish if you didn’t handle them gingerly. made the best jam. had almost a red wine taste to them. they must have started to ferment on the vine. made them taste that much better. bet a mix of b. currant and those grapes would be awesome!