Vince carrying our haul of red currants back from the Borough Hall Farmers Market. They were grown by Wilklow Orchards in the Hudson Valley. We were too late for the black currants, which had sold out, but I'll be back early next week for those. They make an intense jam. Half of these currants are turning a quantity of gin pink. I may freeze some, in sauce-form, for future tarts. Still thinking. It takes a while to pull them from their stalks, but I reward myself with a fat currant from every third or fourth bunch.
My childhood favorites. Not even a berry on our bush.
ReplyDeleteOff to the farmers market with me.
xo J.
That's alodda currants!
ReplyDeleteWow they look good. Know you will enjoy the results. May have shippping the log. worked out ... soon
ReplyDeleteI've never eaten a currant. Could you describe the taste? And texture, and smell? They are not native to the deep south. We have picked our share of Dewberries and Blackberries though. Recently was gifted with a Buttermilk Cream Tart studded with home grown organic blueberries and blackberries! Yum!
ReplyDeleteReally, Jane? My bush was also a bit disappointing. Pollinator issues?
ReplyDeleteFrank, I know, I know...
Thanks webb, still picking them off their stems. Log, really?! Then I can be the Log Lady. Did you ever watch Twin Peaks?
Katie - at first taste, they make you pucker. They are extremely tart, with a slightly sweet edge. The insides are like loose jelly, with tiny seeds. Skins are very smooth and thin. Black currants have a deeper, more intense flavour. That tart sounds very good.
Marie, those sound interesting. I'm assuming they are flavorful; not like rhubarb. Can't see the point of that one --only edible with tons of sugar and I'm not a big fan of sugar in vast amounts. *grin*
DeleteHey Marie. You're South African right? I want to grow organic red currants in Cape Town and I stumbled on your blog looking a for a place to find seeds / plants. I'm not sure if you know the greenies on this side of the Atlantic - if you do, do you know whom I should contact?
ReplyDeleteHi Cara
ReplyDeleteNice idea. Unfortunately I don't know from whom you could buy the bushes. I wonder how they would do in Cape Town? It's possible that winters are not cold enough. But berries are grown nearer Stellenbosch. How about emailing the big berry farm on the Helshoogte? I've forgotten their name.
Hi Katie! I came across this blog as a result of my waking up this morning and deciding that I really would like to give growing red currants a bash. I worked briefly in Kent, UK, and there were some bushes in the garden - red currents now epitomise English country summers for me! I love them! We used to make what I think was called Summer Pudding, which is basically a bread-lined bowl with berries as the filling, which you leave to infuse and then it kind of all blends together in this most wonderful pudding, which we had with thick Greek yoghurt - delish! Problem is, I live in Kommetjie, so there is a good chance they won't grow here. Still, no harm in trying.... The berry farm that Marie mentions is Hillcrest Berry Farm, just outside Stellenbosch, and that is where I would go to get a plant.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I was replying to Carla...:)
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