I have a bunch of currant bushes…at least a dozen. Not replacing any of them.
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Pink Champagne currant is great for fresh eating and makes the most delicious (and visually beautiful) jam and jelly. I prefer it to the darker currant varieties and to date, does well in my 6a zone.
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No one has mentioned blueberries. They might be a bit of a pain to grow but there are many varieties that are very unusual and impossible to get in a store. Pink lemonade blueberry or nocturne are a couple of the unusual varieties you could grow.
If you want to grow blueberries you might choose to add organic material to the clay to make it drain better and add elemental sulfur to it early in the season. You might plant your blueberries in September if the soil PH is low enough.
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I had pink lemonade but never ate a blueberry off it. I always wondered if the color was a novelty or they actually taste different. People claim pink lemonade tastes like lemonade. I question that.
Blueberries just sound like too much of a pain to me. I dont want to have to constantly monitor Ph.
I have been growing huckleberry. It is a great blueberry substitute. They claim they need acidic soil but mine live on. My issues have more so been with dry soil than ph with huckleberry. They survive and do well unless soil totally dries out.
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Hello,
I ended up planting honeyberries from Honeyberry USA. I planted late summer, they were very small plants. They made it through the winter and this spring most of them have blossoms! still small plants but growing vigorously. I have hope!
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I have blueberries in half-barrel pots. My soil is neutral to alkaline, I don’t want to subject blueberries to a soil not ideal for them. So far the bushes look happy and are full of flowers! Back when we were in Florida we could go blueberry u-pick farms that were so close! It was so good. I doubt my barrel-grown ones will be as good, but I miss the fresh blueberries.
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If you ever go to Sedona in AZ consider staying at the Adobe Grand Villas. I stayed there in 2020 for 2 or 3 nights and it was really expensive but they served a breakfast with fresh fruit and what not. I think they stated they grew it but can’t speak to that anymore. The gourmet breakfast, the unlimited soda and the bread the served as a lunch for our hikes really helped the cost but it was still expensive at the end of the day.
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And here I am harvesting my first redcurrants!
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I have never a red currant that I enjoyed fresh. I enjoy sour fruit. I really like all of my gooseberries before they are fully ripe. My JVT red currants are a whole new level of sour. I’d rather eat a lemon.
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Currants are for cooking!
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A bit late, but FWIW I make mixed ribes jelly from a combination of black currants and gooseberries that my wife and brothers think is delicious, despite none of them being black currant nuts like me.
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