Black Currants 2018

This is my first year with a currant harvest. I just tried my Pink Champagne today, and they’re really good. Very sweet and such a pretty color. I got mine from Jung, they sell a red, black and pink trio.

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Katy, going forward, check out Norse Farms in MA. Their berries are always healthy and they ship when you like. Their currants are great too! That is where I bought my Champagne. Lasted for eleven years the, a bad winter killed it!. :cry:

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got a tiny perfection red currant. was only 6in. when i got it but putting on good new growth now. going to be a few years before i can taste them. thats makes 11 currants in my collection. 2 black consorts, 6 golden currants, 2 crandall clove currant 1 boskoop giant black currant and perfection red currant. by next year i shouldn’t have a shortage of currants. they grow so well here i can’t help myself! give them a few handfuls of 10-10-10 and some mulch in spring and they grow.

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what are the golden currants? always heard as synonymous with clove/buffalo currant.

I have never grown golden currants maybe moose should chime in, as I believe he grows them! :grimacing:

My currants are finally starting to change from green to light pink to deep purple. They are late this summer.

from what I’ve read goldens, cloves, buffalo currants are all western currants closely related to each other. most are black. 3 of the ones i got came from colorado hardy plants on amazon. they state thiers are red. supposedly there is a golden that is indeed yellow. hoping my other 3 are but not sure. the description is pretty vague. kinda exciting not knowing what I’m getting. all these bushes we 2ft. tall already. might even get a few berries this year but definitely next year. growing great on mounds of potting soil and compost , mulched heavily w/ chips.

Yeah i’ve read that some wild ones in BC have golden colour but the botanical names is the same as black flesh clove currants. Hope you got some of the golden ones in your mix. Currants a great in that they are so tough and reliable!

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I harvested about four pounds of concord black currants over the weekend. This was from two bushes that get mostly shade. My wife and I made jam. I thought it was delicious, but my kids don’t like it. I will try and get my computer fixed so I can get pictures up.

Love the black currant!

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Here is the black currant jam!

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Great! I’ll be picking tomorrow, can’t wait!!! Well done Jim!

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My kids don’t like it either, which is disappointing. But I guess I get it. Black currant is a strong flavor.

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Very strong! I remove the seeds.

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Looks great. I picked one bush and made 3 jars. I have 5 or 6 bushes to go.

My daughter and I love it, my wife doesn’t. Wife doesn’t like “sour” no matter how much sugar goes with it.

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my consorts are just coloring up here. last years batch of jam was so popular everyone kept asking me for more so ive been out for awhile now. took cuttings and rooted them last spring . gave them to my friends and family so now in a few years they can make their own jam. :wink:

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Getting my new jars today. Picking all day tomorrow! They are black and ripe and huge!

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i dont find them really sour . just musky tasting. its definitly a aquired taste. just like some people like choke cherries right off the bush. gave a jar to my elderly neighbor last year. asked me why he’s never heard of this native fruit. told him he can thank the big lumber companies for eradicating them in the early 1900’s to stop WPBR! Maine is finally relaxing the laws against Ribes. saw my 1st gooseberry for sale at a local nursery. up till now, you could only get them online and even then some nurseries like nourse and indiana berry still won’t ship them to the states still on the ban list. hopefully currants will be offered now.

not all. i have a crandall and some goldens that aren’t supposed to be musky like the older euro currants. ill see the difference in about another month when my crandalls ripen. they had so much blossoms on them the bush looked pure yellow! had to support the branches as the growing fruit was laying them on the ground!

Moose, I bought all of my black currants from Norse. Someone on this forum made it an issue of Norse selling Black Currants to me a number of years back, as I lived in New England. They got in touch with Norse. Norse then pulled them off of their shelves. They’’ve not sold them for 4-5 years now, at least, too bad. Because of this person’s report, even though our state of RI has since pulled its ban, the State of RI made me pay $150.00 per Black Currant plant that I had purchased. Unforgivable,as you can now grow them here. White Pine Blister was never a huge issue in RI because there was never enough land for logging. Some people just like to create problems and are very quick to respond before thinking. So I am happy, I have my BlackCurrants I just feel sorry for Norse, their product is superb! And their selection of Black Currants was great.

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that is sad! here lumber companies own the politicians. our biggest one here, irving, a canadian company , has really pushed this in the past even tho we have very few white pines in this part of the state… i hope my local nursery was allowed to have those gooseberries as there are many irving foresters that would be quick to siingle them out if they weren’t in compliance. i know the owner well and he wouldn’t violate the ban if he knew they’re still not allowed.