I have been picking black currants from my berry garden
I don’t have room for them in my freezer so I have been dehydrating them in a slow cooker
first time using a slow cooker as a dehydrator
this is working out well, the berrys are crunchy and very good
I love their tartness and crunchiness
attached is a picture of the berries that I picked today, before the dehydration
black currants are unusual, I bought them from a guy who had a booth at the college horticulture extension center fundraiser, he has a farm and specializes in unusual plants, he said that the gov’t thought they were worthless and tried to wipe them out, but they were wrong, they are now considered a super food & the health food industry even has both pills and oil for the anti-oxidents, they have more anti-oxidants than blueberries, and the birds don’t bother them, they are tart so that might be why
I trust that what he told me is true, don’t have time to verify
black currants are making a comeback
the gov’t did a stupid thing by trying to wipe them out
(gov’t doesn’t do very many stupid things, ha-ha)
I love black currants, the berries are beautiful black color and tart
very tart, think granny smith apples, that’s how tart
the blacker they get, the less tart they are
I have a berry garden with black currants & honey berries, both are unusual, I like that, they are more wild and heirloom-like, bought all of my plants from that same guy at the extension center
I prefer tart over sweet, so they work for me
they are good for baking and jam
I want several black current plants. Will your seeds germinate and grow? I use to buy black currents at the grocery store but now they are very hard to find. Super Kroger in town is the only place local I can fine them 1 lb for $5. Wine making supply sells current juice $40 a gallon they make excellent wine. Pictures online look like bushes. How many plants do I need to grow 10 gallons of currents?
20 black current seeds on ebay $6 and $5 postage.
Another Ebay seller has 1 ft tall plants 1 year old $20. Plants must grow slow.
I don’t know about growing them from seed
I started mine with some 1 gal size small nursery plants
they grew slowly and are full size now
probably you would need 1 plant for 1 gallon (guess)
there must be some resources online
I do not have expert advise on growing black currants
it is my understanding that they are easy to grow from cuttings
not sure how the seed method goes
once established, they do not need much maintenance
