Black Currants 2017

do you use a juicer or just boil/ strain? next year I’m going to have 8 b. currants producing and ill need a use for all those currants!

I do have a juicer but I like old school boil/strain. I sometimes add juice and zest of one lemon.

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I don’t use heat at all preparing blackcurrant. Just mix it with sugar and mash.

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I prefer to heat it to remove juice from pulp, and it’s easier to remove skins and seeds. I did see a recipe where you put black currant in vodka, and some black currant juice too and age 6 months. The skins dissolve. Not heating the berries would certainly be the healthiest way to consume them.
My Crandall black currant still has berries on it. They are different from Ribes nigrum. Not as musky, still a decent taste. berries are big and fairly uniform, a few smaller berries. I want to explore other species and sub species. Although Crandall is a great producer for sure.

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Hello vkelman, I am looking for cuttings of this variety - Black Boomer (Черный Бумер) as well, but couldn’t get them here in the USA. Is it possible to order them from the same person you have mentioned or maybe you could sell a couple of cuttings to me (PayPal, Visa, check - whatever is more convinient for you)? P.S. Actually, I grown up in the same city in the Ukraine where this variety has been bred, but it’s impossible to order any good varieties from over there like Yubilejnaya Kopanya, Vernisazh… I live in New York State, zip: 10954. Thanks

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Hello,
You know, I did something wrong last season and killed Black Boomer (Черный Бумер) cuttings which were already rooted and had tiny leaves. I suspect that putting them into green growing tubes was the main mistake. I’m trying to obtain cuttings of Black Boomer again from the same person. If he will respond positively, I can order more and share with you.

Should I also ask that guy about Yubilejnaya Kopanya and Vernisazh?
By the way, eBay and Etsy sometimes have good varieties. Anyway, let’s keep in touch. Send me email to vkelman At gmail.com.

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That’s how I’ve got my black currants to endure in the hot & dry: afternoon shade. Just last year planted Belaruskaya on the NE side of what will become an apple tree. Nice start to it.

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I’ve got a hedge of golden currants that are certainly not lacking for pollenators and yet almost never set a single fruit.

I’ve had the hedge for over a decade and I also have at least a half a dozen red currants, 3 white, 1 pink and 1 black. I also have gooseberries and Jostaberries. All of this on less than an eighth of an acre. Crandall fruits well for me, but I did just add another crandall right by the goldens so maybe something will happen this year.

If I don’t see anything this spring, I will be cutting the goldens back hard. I might get adventurous and root out as much Crandall I can and replacing them.

Scott

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i had 3 goldens that grew well for 2 years then WPBR defoliated them for 2 years. i gave up on them and pulled them. yet my crandall right next to them was unaffected. replacing with honey bee honey berry and a primus white currant.

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I have a couple going here. I also have Crandall. I myself prefer the regular black currants. I just consumed some this morning. i wanted to try other currants. I have 2 strains of goldens besides Crandal, One is supposed to have red fruit, and the other yellow fruit. The yellow was from seed, and I have a bunch of 4 inch plants.

Here is one of the red fruited 3rd leaf. All are leafing out.

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Have your red or yellow fruited cultivars fruited for you? If so, how were they? If not, how was their growth?

Scott

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I’m afraid they have not fruited. I did have a few flowers last year, no fruit. I may have the same problem you do with no fruit. I also have King Edward VII Flowering Currant. I heard the berries were not very good. I bought it to fill a spot in one of my hedges.

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Do clove currants sucker? My regular currants never have, but it looks like maybe my crandall is. One is about a foot away and the other is 2.5 feet away. Is that what these are or is it just another weed?

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I don’t think I’ve seen suckering from my current, but they sometimes fall over in route from existing stems. Also, I’ve seen birds plant a number of them throughout the yard from seed.

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Mine do slowly spread. Rather close to the original crown.

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@Drew51

Thanks again for the current cuttings. They are all doing great in my 20gal growbag. I was afraid to transplant them early now I am afraid to transplant them late what do you think?


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I would wait till they are dormant. Do it in the fall or before bud break. They will be fine for the summer. Yeah if entangled the stress may be too much. You need to slowly pry them apart. they won’t even notice if dormant.

I put some directly in the ground, and in 2 years they are loaded.
Yours look great very cool.

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Not what I was hoping you would say but ill take your advice. I will just dig trough and separate one or two duplicates to satisfy my inclination to murder something by accident.

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Yes take a couple out and see how it goes. I’m being overly cautious. try not to disturb the roots. I tend to want to reshape the roots, and that doesn’t work well on growing plants. But moving it undisturbed as much as possible will work.
I moved 4 mature red and white currants once. Three made it, one died. That was 4 years ago and this year I finally replaced Jonkheer Van Tets which is the one that died.
It would be easier to do now, in the fall or late winter the roots will be a lot larger.
Let us know how it goes.

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the huge grow bag does fortunately give them some space to run deep.

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