Black Currant

The snow season ended quickly as spring weather wrapped us up in a rather warm embrace. The ground absorbed the melting snow and in its wake the black currant bushes stood proudly awaiting seasonal trimming. Similar to other fruiting plants the Black Currant needs attention and thinning to help improve fruit yield and overall quality. The trimming also helps to improve air circulation which is critical to stave off disease.

The spring trimming process is tedious but with the sun warming you the task moves along at a decent clip. The basic idea is to remove about a third of the growth for optimal seasonal production. During this seasons trimming it was interesting to note how little winter damage the plants exhibited.

This year we decided to see if we could be successful in propagating black currants by burying the wood cuttings. We buried a variety of cuttings in varying sizes in a nursery bed. If our little experiment works out even at a minimal level it will have a profound affect on the size of our black currant orchard and consequently our ability to produce more of that fabulous Black Currant jam. We will keep you posted as to success or failure.