Last year in April I purchased two blackcurrant plants, of which I was elated about.

I love blackcurrants so much, but they are somewhat rare (relatively speaking to other berry bushes) in North America. They’re delicious: tart, with a hint of sweetness. Last year when I purchased them they were root stock, they didn’t even have any leaves yet. Over the coarse of the season however they grew quickly. I got a tiny little bit of fruit last year since they were two-year-old plants when I bought them, but what I have already harvested this year has surpassed what my two bushes produced last year. And there’s still lots left on the plants that aren’t ripe yet. The photo above illustrates about one-fifth of what is still ripening on the plant.

While my dream of making batches and batches of my own blackcurrant jam might still be a year or two away in the future, I’m more then happy to go outside and pick some every day for fresh eating until that time comes.

What I’m finding most difficult about blackcurrants, however, is the absolute lack of leeway when it comes to ripening time. The fact that I live in a hot climate doesn’t help, since blackcurrants don’t mind cooler temperatures (which is why I put them in a part-shady spot to avoid having them baking in 30C temperatures all day every day in the summer). One day a berry is still half green, and then the next day, a mere 24 hours later, it’s overripe and has cracked, spreading it’s yummy goodness that should be in my mouth, all over the ground.

Diligence is what I’ve learnt growing blackcurrants.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 27th, 2010 at 10:07 am and is filed under Gardening, Plants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.