This is the reward. This took about an hour to pick.
Same berries, a month earlier.
Golden Currant is usually planted as an ornamental. The berries are tiny, the size of peppercorns, but are edible. Or you can leave them for the birds, and just enjoy the compact green ball of leaves.
Oh: It goes red in the fall.
Black Currant
Captivator Gooseberry. Big berries. Almost thornless.
Red Currents alas aren't more than yellow in the fall.
We have wild ones too. These run throughout my woods.
The wild ones also have colour.
Red Currant
We have wild ones too. These run throughout my woods.
The wild ones also have colour.
Currants & Gooseberries
Ribes
This group of berries are not noted for their use fresh. They are tart, extremely so when not quite ripe, much sweeter as you let them age on the twig. Different cultivars have varying amounts of sugar.
All of the ribes (genus name) are somewhat shade tolerant. If you are working on a food forest, these can do quite well in the dappled shade below other fruit trees.
Ribes tend to sprawl. An easy way to deal with them is to make rings of concrete re-enforcing mesh about 2.5 feet wide. This keeps the branches off the ground, and makes picking easier.
Currents are mostly used for jam,jelly and conserves. Gooseberry traditionally used for sauces and pies. Often they are used to 'tarten up' a blend that is a bit bland.
What we carry depends on what I can get. (I'm not producing my own yet.)
Ben Nevis This is a black currant. Berries range from 3/8 to 1/2 inch when ripe. Large clusters make for fast picking.
Red Lake This is (surprise!) a red currant. Red currants tend to be smaller than black. They are not quite as strongly flavoured, and make a lighter coloured jellies and jams. Red Lake has large fruit with high juice content. Mid season. Red lake is susceptible to powdery mildew. Drip irrigation recommended. If this isn't practical, water when leaves will dry quickly after. (Water in mid morning on a breezy day is ideal.
Captivator Berries are quite large, about 5/8" x nearly an inch long, and red when ripe. Sweet enough for fresh eating. Plant is nearly thornless. Promising for commercial production. Resistant to mildew. Late season variety.
Pixwell Berries, are smaller, but in clusters that hang well below the cane, making for fast picking. Fruit gets bitter if overripe. Too tart for most people's taste for fresh eating.
Inventory tables are double rows to make them usable on small screens.
Common name and container in column 1.
Count is how many we think we have left. Price is per tree.
Height will be there next year, we hope.
Food -- Currant
| Common Name Container |
Count Price |
Height (feet) |
|
| Currant, Black 'Ben Nevis' 125 ml plug - 10/bundle |
-3 $35.00 |
||
| Currant, Black 'Ben Nevis' #2 Std pot (6 qt) |
6 $35.00 |
||
| Currant, Black 'Ben Nevis' #2 Std pot (6 qt) |
12 $40.00 |
||
| Gooseberry, Captivator #2 Std pot (6 qt) |
1 $35.00 |
||
| Gooseberry, Easy Pickings #2 Std pot (6 qt) |
-1 $35.00 |
||
| Gooseberry, Easy Pickings #2 Std pot (6 qt) |
1 $42.50 |
||
| Last Update: 2024-Jan-21 | |||
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Sherwood's Forests is located about 75 km southwest of Edmonton, Alberta. Please refer to the map on our Contact page for directions.