I will have a very good crop this year. My black currant do not get fully ripe until July, but i did notice a few of the berries starting to change color. The fab green netting has really worked this year and have kept out not only rabbits but my dreaded catbirds. Due to the rain and fog this spring, some of the leaves are showing signs if mold 
its alwsys something!
Looks like it is time to start picking my Minaj Smyriou black currants. Muffins or jelly⌠Or maybe I have enough for both. I had to move my other 2 varieties of black currants and my Rovada red, so they were cut way back for the move and donât have much crop this year. While not my favorite for flavor of the three, Minaj send to deal with my heart and humidity the best.
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Iâd wait a little longer.
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my consorts were laying all over the place so i pruned out anything that wasnât erect. should still get enough berries to make some jam but next year i should see berries on the 8 other currants i put in this year have 5 goldens,1 clove and 3 american black currants and a perfection red currant . the crandall clove is loaded with yellow flowers so i should get to taste them later this summer!
I have never tasted nor grown a clove currant so I cannot wait to hear about that One!
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No catbirds eh?
They have been too busy with the mulberries, blueberries and, to a lesser extent, raspberries. Iâm going to pick some of the darkest today and then wait a few days to pick some more. That way Iâm sure to get some before the critters decide they like them. This variety ripens over several weeks, so I can pick them on and off over that time as they ripen. At some point the birds and critters may decide to dig in, so I wonât hold my breath to get the full crop.
While the catbirds are definitely a problem, my biggest issue is chipmunks. They still havenât developed a taste for the currents, but they might any day. With the help of the birds they eat every mulberry and blueberry before theyâre ripe. Last year, when my cherry tomatoes started to disappear as soon as they showed the slightest color, I set out rat traps and caught a dozen in just a few hours. They dig or crawl under nets and are pure fuzzy evil. I need to borrow your dog for a few weeks!
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the bush is only in 2nd leaf here and about 18in high. has the most beautiful yellow flowers with red stamens. so many the bush looks yellow. they do indeed smell like cloves! bumbles all over it.
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No prob! borrow my dog! Most critters donât like the smell of the leaves of Black currant and leave them alone.
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get a few cats and feed them only a cup of food per day. let them forage for more! 
i have a female that even tries to catch full size wild ducks! i havent seen a chipmunk and barely any squirrels since weâve had her. and im surround with big spurces and pines with lots of fruit bushes and trees.
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I put up bird netting this year. It was my first time encountering a catbird. And to think, I thought it was cute and interesting that this strange brown bird seemed unafraid of me and followed me all over the garden.
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Yep, the bird got to you too! A friendly thief!!!
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Are there currants that are delicious picked off the bush? I donât know anything about them. Was looking yesterday at blacks, whites, and the pink cultivar âChampagneâ.
Any black, white, or pink you would recommend for fresh eating (sweet flavor or sweet with slightly tart?)
Dax
I think I am having this problem, too. After netting to keep the catbird away, I went out to try and find the first ripe raspberry of the year. It was gone. RAGE. Had to be a rodent, as the net covers, from the airborne critters, right?
So cute! Until I ran across one of you talking about catbirds who like to eat green currants! Then I checked my bush and may have sworn a bit.
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Dax for sweeter currants I highly recommend Champagne! It is a pink currant that has a very delicate flavor, best for jelly! All currants have tons of seeds, thus seedless jam or seedless jelly. I also like Rovada over Jonkeer von Tets, and my favorite white is. Versailles! Buy a small jar of red currant jelly at the supermarket, see if you like it. It tastes nothing like is robust cousin the black currant!
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Katie it was probably me. Catbirds and squirrels, two of my most disliked creatures!
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so far nothing touches my black currants. we have catbirds/squirrels but they donât touch them. maybe all the wild chokecherries and high bush cranberries in the field next to me keep them busy? or theyâre scared of my cats.
Cats will do it!!!
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