I’m not sure what variety the white one is, but the pink is Rosasport. These are among a number of plants I got from Lieven last winter.
Since it’s the first year for these plants the harvest is very small.
Red currants the previous owner left in the garden came and went a few weeks ago. I didn’t know what the plant was when I got the garden, and it was really growing out of control. I just pruned it down to the ground, and that turned out to be a mistake because currants form berries mostly on parts of the plant that are two or three years old, so I didn’t get much of a harvest this year.
Another plant I got from Lieven is a Josta berry, a cross between a black currant and a gooseberry. It’s supposed to be a very strong growing and productive plant, which makes nice juice. This plant didn’t have any berries this year.
Patrick, what do you do with them? I just harvested a small pile of red currants about a week ago (not enough to do anything with except snack on), but as we get larger harvests in the future we’ll need to make something out of them … Jam? Juice?
Hi Meg,
Growing currants is something new to me too. Red currants are popular around here, and several people have given me some out of their garden — perhaps because they weren’t sure what to do with them either.
Red currants are a little tart, so nice with sweet things. They are good in a fruit salad with things like melon, banana, etc. They are nice on ice cream, or other sweet desserts. They go well in muffins.
Black currants on the other hand are sweet, so they are nice with tart things like cranberries. Black currant juice is very popular here, and sold in cans along side soft drinks.
Of course the plants give their entire harvest at the same time, so you need to do something with them. In some Dutch foods I’ve found dried black currants, they are kind of like raisins. If you have a dehydrator, you might try this. Otherwise, like you said, jam/jelly, juice, etc.
I’m not really sure what I’m going to do with these two varieties. The Rosasport is neither sweet nor tart, but very fruity and nice tasting. There is something wrong with the white kind I have, and I hope it improves next year. It has a kind of sour taste.
I have a lovely recipe for a red currant flan http://gardenersgastronomy.blogspot.com/2007/06/redcurrant-flan-ribisel-kuchen.html
Freeze your redcurrants, if you have a lot, in small batches and use them with other fruits as needed. They look so beautiful .I wish too many redcurrants was a problem I had!
These pink and white look gorgeous and I am sure you will have lots in the future and I will be very envious!
Misshathorn just posted a picture of her currant schnapps:
http://mustardplaster.blogspot.com/2008/06/getting-pickled.html
I think that’s a variety called Kromhaut. It’s too small for White Champion, that’s for sure. But then, in a couple of years those fruits could be three times the size. I’ve just been blogging about currants, which is a coincidence!
I have two dead simple recipes for currants both red and white:
Soft fruit sorbet
500g/1lb2oz raspberries
500g/1lb2oz redcurrants
250g/9oz icing sugar
1. Crush (in a big sealed plastic bag with a rolling pin)and sieve the fruit, then stir in the icing sugar.
2. Pour into an ice cream machine or make granita style by freezing, stirring after an hour, freezing again, stirring etc until it gets the consistency you want.
Currant rice pudding
Wash and pick over currants for stems then using any rice pudding recipe, add the currants after fifteen minutes (so the skin hasn’t formed but the milk is warm and the rice is swelling) this gives lovely swirls of fruity flavour through the rice.
Great Currant recipes over here, Patrick!
I have 2 old bushes that provide more than I need…(so I share with the birds).
This year is a very healthy year for them, and they are loaded with berries.
I usually make jelly -but I hope to try out some of the other recipes.
I inherited red, white and black currant bushes from the previous owner, but since this was an estate sale, and of course no info, – have been researching on my own. We make jam or jelly with the black, as ours are quite tart. The white ones are certainly tart but sweet enough to eat fresh or bake with. (I like the idea of adding them to rice pudding). My red currant bush died (too much interference from construction, I guess.) Does anyone have the name of a good red variety for the BC coast?-Moderate winters, but can be damp all year – though lovely hot July usually. we just harvested now in mid-late July. P
Hi Peggy,
While I have a similar climate to yours, on the north west coast of Europe, I’m afraid I’m also in a similar situation as you. My red currant is a nameless plant I inherited from the previous owner of my community gardening plot.
I also can’t even say much about it, because I didn’t know what kind of plant it was at first so I cut it nearly down to the ground because it was very overgrown (the previous owner never cut back anything in his garden). Anyway, since red currents don’t grow on one year old wood, I didn’t get much this year.
Maybe someone else reading this will have some suggestions.
Hi everybody. I moved to USA from Evrope and this bushes are growing almost in every garden. I am not realy sure how to grow this bushes but I like to buy one of each (white, red or pink, black). I am now looking on several web pages but not luck so far. Anybody could help?
And I do have very interesting recipe:
1 big sauer cream mix with little sugar and real lemon juice – make it how you like the taste – I like it more sauer than sweet. When you like the taste put little bit of this mix on the bottom of the bowl (plastic or ceramic) spread on this mix vanilla vafers than spread your berries and the sauer cream mix again and vanila vafers and berries, etc… I do probably 3 layers and finish again with sauer cream mix. Put this in the fridge for few hours – it should get thick so you can cut this cake. You can use any fruit. My favorite is combination of strawberries, currant berries, blueberries and blackberries. It is great for summer
Hi Ivona,
Thanks for the recipe and the comment!
You might try here:
http://www.sln.potsdam.ny.us/currants.html
The Seed Savers Exchange has a few members with currents in their gardens:
http://www.seedsavers.org/
But you first have to join as a member, then contact the members and ask them for plants. You have to pay both the SSE and the member, so it might be more expensive in the end than if you can just buy them from somewhere.
I don’t live in the US, otherwise I would offer to send you some of mine.
Good luck!
Lightly stew white or red currants with a bit of sugar, sieve, and freeze the puree, mix with icing sugar to top cup cakes.
Mix the puree with lightly whipped whipping cream to make fool, or use as the puree basis for ice cream.
Hi Roz, thanks for the suggestions!
Hi Everybody,
Fun to read your site. I wish I could grow my own currants, but I rent my house, so no can do. But does anyone know where I might obtain some white currant juice, fresh berries, or jelly? I have the recipe for my grandmother’s killer raspberry jam, which calls for white currant juice from fresh berries, but so far have not been able to locate currants or juice. I am in Sebastopol, CA, in the wine country north of San Francisco.
Hi Sherry, I’m afraid I don’t know. Have you ever considered getting a community garden plot and growing your own? This is what I do. I also don’t have a garden around my house I can use.
Sherry, I was just searching the web for what to do with my white currants. I already made some juice and still have a lot more berries–from one plant! I live in Boonville (on Hwy 128 north of Cloverdale.
I have a brother in Healdsburg. Maybe we could make an exchange.
Hi Jeanne,
Thanks for your comment. I sent Sherry an email with your details, and she’ll get in touch if she’s interested. I assume she’ll be interested!