The super-looking SUPERFOOD
Tasty and packed full of vitamins – currants are top of the crops
IN THE GARDEN
AMONG the edibles in my maternal grandparents’ large, suburban back garden were blackcurrant bushes that dripped with plump, shiny berries in summer. As a nipper, I was repeatedly told not to touch the plants, but the fruit looked so alluring that I’d run the risk of being scolded by helping myself whenever the coast was clear.
My clandestine encounters with blackcurrants all those years ago, along with an obsession with Ribena that ran into my teenage years, have given me a lifelong weakness for this fruit. Apart from their pleasing appearance, I love the woody aroma of the berries and their piercingly sharp yet sweet flavour.
Due to my soft spot for this fruit, one of the first things I did when I took on a garden of my own was to plant three different types of currants in patio pots. The trio consisted of blackcurrant ‘Ben Sarek’, redcurrant ‘Rovada’ and whitecurrant ‘White Versailles’, a variety with pale yellow berries that are virtually translucent.
My currants were harvested to make summer pudding, a classic dessert of compacted berries encased in bread that dates from Victorian times (back then it was known by the less tempting name of hydropathic pudding). The fruit can also be used to make compotes, cordials, sauces and sorbets.
As well as being tasty, currants are considered a superfood. They are full of vitamins and minerals, and low in sugar. Weight for weight, blackcurrants contain more than three times as much Vitamin C as oranges, while their dark skin is rich in anthocyanins, which can act as a powerful antioxidant.
Late autumn until early spring is the ideal time to take the first step in raising your own currants by setting a bare-root or containergrown specimen in the ground or in a large pot. Newly planted bushes will take one to three years to produce their first crop, with berries ripening between June and September, depending on variety.
One benefit of growing your own currants that I haven’t yet mentioned is that it will save you a packet over shop-bought fruit. For example, a puny 150g punnet of redcurrants will set you back about £2.25, but a single bush can produce 2.5kg of currants annually and has the potential to remain productive for decades.
Currants belong to the ribes plant group, which also includes gooseberries. Blackcurrants (Ribes nigrum) are native to northern and central Europe, along with northern Asia, while redcurrants (Ribes rubrum) come from western Europe. Whitecurrants and pinkcurrants are cultivated forms of redcurrant with paler fruit.
Nobody knows when currants arrived here, but bushes were a key element of cottage gardens by the 1500s. Fruit was originally used medicinally, and it wasn’t until the Second World War that currants became popular to eat. At the time, the government suggested planting bushes due to the high Vitamin C content of the fruit.
Today, there are scores of named varieties with plants sold in several different forms by nurseries. All are offered as open-centred bushes, while red and white types are also available as lollipop-shaped standards, and as single and doublestemmed cordons suitable for growing against vertical surfaces.
Plants will do best in a sheltered, sunny spot with well-drained soil that’s been improved with wellrotted manure. They’ll tolerate partial shade, but the flavour of the fruit won’t be as good. Another option is to set plants in 18in-wide pots filled with a mixture of multipurpose compost and soil-based John Innes No3 compost.
Apart from being a must-have in a kitchen garden or dedicated fruit area, free-standing bushes are ideal for injecting an ornamental touch to beds and borders, or can be used to create an informal, dividing hedge within a garden. Those with limited space could plant cordons beside walls and fences fitted with training wires.
After planting, prune blackcurrant bushes back to within 2in of the ground to encourage new shoots in spring. Next winter, prune bushes lightly, taking out weak shoots. Once plants are established, remove about a quarter of the branches, cutting them off low down to stimulate new growth.
Prune newly planted red and whitecurrant bushes in spring, reducing shoots to about 6in. The following spring and thereafter, scale down upright shoots by about a quarter, cutting to an outward facing bud, and shorten side-shoots to about three buds. At the same time, clear out any weak, dead or diseased growth.