Growing Currants, gooseberries, and more in the garden

[@govindasgarden]

that goumi is nuts! great to hear you and see the berries poppin' off

[@edenoftheworld1090]

Glad to see you posting! It's fun to just geek out about cool plants with ya.

[@Crina-LudmilaCristeaAuthor]

Yeah, same here!

[@Crina-LudmilaCristeaAuthor]

Hi Akiva! Next time you find some time to make a video, maybe you can mention some of the currant varieties and other beings which can be propagated and sold without issues, as in there's no restrictions, etc. I've been looking online at what varieties are OK to be propagated without licence being needed, but couldn't find much info. Maybe I'm not searching well. Atm, I'm focusing on propagating f ex Big Ben currant - which makes massive blackcurrants, they're 3 times the size of regular currants. You mentioned Rovada, so I will be buying some of those as well because I don't have that variety and your bushes looked amazing! I have Rosetta and JVT doing really well in their 2nd year in the garden. Thanks again for the inspiration! I hope you and your family are doing great. 🤗

[@PeytonWind]

I'm glad you did a close up shot of the yellow trumpet flowers (and the leaves) of that last currant. I have a number of shrubs growing beneath some of my trees and the flowers & leaves look just like that! I couldn't figure out what they are and now believe they're currants planted by birds although I haven't seen fruit on any of them. They're growing kinda gangly and I'm planning to prune them this year so that they can fill out. The trees are almost dead and will need to be replaced sometime but I intend to keep the shrubs in place, if possible. Maybe I'll be able to root some cuttings or try some layering with those long gangly stems.

[@bryansoldo1439]

Thank you Akiva! You’re a wealth of knowledge and I appreciate you spreading it. Keep up the content and don’t change a thing!

[@agilman]

Here in the Pacific Northwest, the currents get fungal blight on the leafs, and the berries get infested with worms. The jostaberry has been most resilient and prolific out of what I have.

[@Crina-LudmilaCristeaAuthor]

Rovada currant will be next to join the other beings in our food forest! I've been dreaming about adding it for a while (alongside aronia), just waiting for some resources to come in so I can afford buying a few bushes and then multiply them. Rovada creates great abundance. Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video. I know you're super, super busy, but maybe you will find the time to record a video when they're ripe as well. They will look spectacular. Currants are delicious and so easy to grow! I wish more people knew about them.

[@mountainfigsperennialfruits]

Same bountiful experience this year in northern PA with same age currants and gooseberries, in garden setting and otherwise. Agree, the ones in garden situations are just tremendous. Gives you a new idea of what the plant actually is and can be. And so much easier than blueberries, though blueberries can be worth the struggle. Haskap and goumi going great too. Everbearing raspberry and especially elderberry always produce well. Garden settings absolutely magnify the impressive effects. Ribes and elderberry very willing and robust; haskap and goumi can be too; then brambles.

[@boxybrown33]

I propagated my black currants for the first time by cutting and 90% of them are taking. The shrubs are a gift from god. Could not be easier.

[@Crina-LudmilaCristeaAuthor]

Same here, I stuck cuttings of several varieties and most of them rooted. Only the ones which were very thin didn't make it, and that was to be expected. I can't wait to propagate more of them.

[@RayMirshahi]

I agree with you that currants are great. I also prefer them to blueberries because they are much easier to grow and super productive. Blueberries are too fussy and they need perfect conditions to grow and bear fruit and they are susceptible to rabbit browse in my area. Rabbits and birds leave my currant bushes alone. Currants are hardy and require little care. To me they taste great. Thanks for the video. 🙏

[@rowanwhite3520]

I am with you about growing currants! They are really easy to grow and produce like crazy!

[@zmblion]

Awesome stuff dude i bet its a field day with the kids during picking season. 8 gals on the bush 2 quarts make it to the house 😂

[@wingking077]

Tour tour tour ! Good video

[@AlamoRusty]

Great to see. I just bought my first red currant plant yesterday.

[@Skitdora2010]

I loved my carmine Jewel goumi at my last place, I got it in 2004 for $15 at Jungs and when moved in 2016 spent years trying to replace at new place. I bought potted plants last year in June at One green World and they took at last and made flowers this year. Bareroots never made it. Carmine really was my favorite plant. Can't wait to eat its fruit again. Your bush looks beautiful.

[@jeffmeyers3837]

@Skitdora2010 Wait, did you have a Carmine Goumi, or a Carmine Jewel bush cherry? I have the latter and am waiting for it to fruit this year, wondering what your experience was with the fruit? (taste, uses, etc).

[@Crina-LudmilaCristeaAuthor]

How are the currants doing?🧐🤗

[@jeffmeyers3837]

@Akiva Silver - Twisted Tree Farm Can you briefly explain how you prune currants and gooseberries? Do you leave the older wood and remove new shoots, allowing the older wood to branch and get taller? I prune lots of trees and berry shrubs and am wondering what your approach is since yours look so nice.

[@Crina-LudmilaCristeaAuthor]

How are your persimmon trees doing? Maybe you'll find the time to do a video this autumn/winter.

[@joshua511]

Do you plant things in guilds or just randomly? I'm not sure if you've done a tour before, I'll see if you have any examples.

[@agrarianarc]

Your haskaps are lovely. How old are they? Mine are on their third growing season and some are still quite small

[@jeffmeyers3837]

Do you fertilize each year? Just wondering because I have some that I wasn't fertilizing well until this year, and he also mentioned how much bigger everything grows when you fertilize them well.

[@agrarianarc]

What do you like to use currants for? I’ve never tried one. What do they taste like?

[@chickenfarm09]

I'm new to them too and wondering the same. The ones I picked didn't taste very good to me

[@jeffskinner1226]

What do you think of the quality of the Clove Currant fruit relative to other currants?

[@yLeprechaun]

What should I do special to store these currant seeds I just got from you?

[@cacmang42]

Love it!

[@geodio]

Do you have any deer pressure? Seeing them exposed like that in the wild gave me pause. I only have a couple currants but deer brutalize them.

[@tommyhundersmarck7018]

How do you add more compost when you have woodchip mulch? do you rake away the woodchips, apply the compost and then rake back the woodchips. Or do you just add more woodchips and let that become the compost?

[@jaredenders4981]

Will currants grow in zone 7 or 8 in the south? Thank you.

[@chickenfarm09]

Does these carry the white pine blister rust?

[@chickenfarm09]

I think the bushes smell similar to cat pee. I lose my apetite a little bit everytime I am reminded of it. I have a black currant bush, and not really sure what to do with the fruits. They don't taste all that good when eaten fresh. I added some to a salad and that wasn't too bad. Are they mostly for preserves and jams with a bunch of added sugar?

[@OsirusHandle]

they have to stay on the bush for quite a while to get full taste

[@jvp714]

I have a 4 year old jostaberry that finally has flowers on it.

[@yogiefitch1992]

I am checking to see if you know where i can get some osage orange fruits

[@tagladyify]

I would love to grow gooseberries if for nothing else, but to make delicious gooseberry pie. I just cannot risk my beautiful 100+ year old white pine. I don’t have acreage to work with. Right around 1/2 acre.

[@jeffmeyers3837]

There are many varieties now which do not get white pine rust.

[@inharmonywithearth9982]

My friends and i have tried to grow currants gooseberries rhubarb hardy kiwi and none of these will survive on the oklahoma / arkansas border no matter what we try. They cannot take temperatures over 100 ° Fahrenheit and no rain all summer. We tried for 25 years.

[@Crina-LudmilaCristeaAuthor]

Have you tried mulching the soil with woodchips? Maybe that will help. Check out the Back to Eden documentary with Paul Gautschi.

[@OsirusHandle]

how do you deal with birds? 😢

[@akivasilver-twistedtreefar3930]

Birds almost never bother currants or gooseberries

[@MobtownGeorge]

I'm always encouraged to see what you are up too Akiva! We're just a few minutes up the road from you, and we are working towards similar abundance at @BigSpruceFarm