I agree that not all of them are ripe. But I sampled the darkest ones and they still weren’t all that tasty- nothing I can see myself sitting and eating. So, I picked everything, with jelly in mind.
I’m pretty happy with the size of the black currant harvest. I’ve been picking them for the last few days and am up to 4 quarts (more than the 7 pint harvest last year) and still have plenty to go. Maybe I’ll regret adding 5 more black currant varieties this spring. But, I’m pretty sure I can use up a lot of black currant jelly over the course of the year.
The problem is going to be the picking- I need to find a variety which is heavy bearing, uniform ripening (picking one by one is pretty slow), and either large berry or large clusters. When the whole crop is in, I’ll total up the yield for each of my current 5 varieties and post another Black Currant report (similar to the 2014 report).
They also can weight 200 grams. That’s nearly half a lb. And worth the wait!!
I usually pick mine by putting a 3 inch foam pad under the tree. I try to pick just before they fall but just in case have backup. They loosen and fall off still firm but fully ripe.
Blanka white current was loaded with fruit. I cut off the branch’s loaded with fruit and gave them to my neighbor for his chickens. It’s being removed to make room for something that tastes better.
Currants are really grown for jam, or jelly, due to their tartness. Only the darkest pink of your ‘champagne’ currants will have a hint of sugar. They make the best jelly! I’ll be a harvesting all of mine this week.
My almost 4 year old daughter ate 4 handfuls of ripe black currants fresh today. She kept demanding more, and I have to cajole her to get her to eat a blueberry or two.
When I was growing up I used to eat a lot of red currants fresh from a couple large bushes at my grandmothers. I’m not sure if my palate is different, but I just don’t enjoy them the way I used to. And the more of them I have, the lower my opinion of them gets.
I was picking currants for almost 3 hours this afternoon (3.5 quarts of black and another 2 of pink and red- about 2 quarts per hour). I’ll make another batch of white/pink/red currant jam, but each time I’ve done this in the past it hasn’t measured up to the black currants (best jelly ever).
I’m thinking about reclaiming some of the spots from white/red/pink currants, which is a shame now that they are bearing well. I’m tempted to try grafting them over to black currants, but I’ve never heard of anyone doing that before and I probably have enough black currants already. My oldest Consort produced just over 4 quarts so far this year (more than double last year). If all my plants get to that level of production, I would have to hire someone to pick . It would be over 50 lbs, compared to the ~8 lbs I’ve picked so far this year which feels like a lot.
What are you replacing them with? I’m thinking about getting rid of the Primus white currants and expanding the kiwi trellis in that area. I didn’t really leave enough room for the kiwis when I planted and the are among my favorites. The vines are very vigorous and I’m sure they can take over any additional structure I put up.
The other I’m thinking about is to get rid of a mixed row of red/black currants and the Poorman gooseberry with spots. I can transplant the Poorman and one of the black currants (I’m deeming the other, Laxton’s Giant, a loser and culling it) to a better part of the yard in place of some red/white currants. In their place, I could put in a small row of jujubes.
I’ll second that (along with best sorbet, etc). I confess I don’t even pick the reds many years. Part of the problem is the birds tend to zero in on them and I have them spread out as landscaping making it hard to net them all. Unfortunately I am now seeing a lot of decline in my older black currants.
I have black, red, pink current and gooseberry. current is pretty seedy. When you make black current jelly, do you take the seeds out , or just leave seeds in? if you take the seeds out, how do you do that?
My brother is in the early stages of filling his yard and has offered to take any berries off my hands. He liked the red currants as a kid too, so he’ll probably want to try them too. I’ll try to find takers on anything being removed, though there is only so much digging I’m willing to do.
The main difference between them is that a colander is quick and easy, but lets a bit get through. That can leave a few seeds and make it cloudy(if appearance matters).
Bob, I assume you put berries in blender and blend it first, or just coarsely crushed them? I have never made current jelly before , therefore, a lot of details need to be filled in
, therefore, a lot of details need to be filled in