Currant Events

My currant/berry plot is starting to come together. This past Saturday after returning from California we stopped by a local nursery, and I purchased two Red Lake variety currant bushes, as well as a Poorman (supposedly) variety gooseberry, and a thornless blackberry. I also purchased a Crandall black currant last week (a lovely yellow flowering variety) at a separate nursery.

On Monday my two elderberry bushes arrived; they were fairly small, but seemed healthy. My Jostaberry arrived as well (a Jostaberry is a cross between a black currant and a gooseberry), it was also small, but healthy.

Yesterday I purchased a Cherry Red currant bush, and I have great hopes for it. It looks like it may get berries this year (my Red Lakes as well as my Crandall and Poorman seem like they will as well), so that is good news indeed.

My largest order of the bushes should be arriving hopefully this week, and is being shipped from the Currant Company out of New York. There should be three black currant varieties, one red currant variety, and two pink currant bushes of the same variety arriving. I am not certain of the size of these bushes, or how well they are established, but I have great hopes for them since they come from the only strictly currant dedicated nursery in the country.

The currant bush that survived from last year seems to finally be doing a little better, it is a white variety from Sweden. Originally I had ordered some white currants from the Currant Company, but they were unable to ship because they didn't feel they were hearty enough.

I have been planting the bushes on a small slope to facilitate good drainage, which is necessary to the health of these bushes. Although the hill isn't fully taken up yet, it really seems to add a lot of character to the slope. Overall, I have been pretty pleased so far.

This year, I hope, will be a success.