Topic: Are redcurrants worth growing>

[strawberry1]

I have just moved 2 different varieties, both going into their second year and I ate a few last year. Tbh I didn`t like them at all, I know they make jelly etc but that requires sugar and I am doing without sugar. Shall I get rid of them while I can? Am I missing something?

[BarriedaleNick]

I only use them for jelly and for adding a tang to fruit salads - I wouldn't eat a bunch of them.  I also add a few to other jams as they are high in pectin. 

[goodlife]

It all depends..
If you have room for them, why not...I'm sure birds will eat them if you don't and it is nice to give something for our feathered friends too 

I only have one big bush as I don't use them that much...I don't do/eat jams nor do I tend to make much cakes/pies. You can make nice juice out of them..just like with black currants....and you could use sweetener to make it more to your taste, though you do have to freeze it to keep it. Now that I think about it....I do have juice steamer that has been redundant for loooong time...maybe I should put it in good use again.
I tend to make mix berry compote and cooked sauces that I eat with yogurt...red currants mix nicely with other 'stuff' and I eat some amount straight from the bush just as they are..bit sharp but mouth soon gets used to it and they are nice refresher while gardening.
My bush give me HUGE crop and most of it is going to wild birds...and then chickens get their share...and what is left is still plenty for us..

[strawberry1]

I don`t have much room, my total plot is only 10 x 100 feet and that includes borders, flowers and utility area. BN if I am honest, that was what I was thinking, so they will be out this week. I have lots of fruit, gooseberries, blackcurrants, strawberries, raspberries and apples. We love eating the berries now, everyday and without sugar. I think the redcurrants have no place on my patch and tbh it is just like sorting and chucking out at home. Thanks for the input, appreciated both of you

[davholla]

I don`t have much room, my total plot is only 10 x 100 feet and that includes borders, flowers and utility area. BN if I am honest, that was what I was thinking, so they will be out this week. I have lots of fruit, gooseberries, blackcurrants, strawberries, raspberries and apples. We love eating the berries now, everyday and without sugar. I think the redcurrants have no place on my patch and tbh it is just like sorting and chucking out at home. Thanks for the input, appreciated both of you

I don't like them normally but my brother in law has them in his garden and when they are really ripe they are nice (he didn't plant them and didn't even know if he could eat them).  So give them one more chance.

[goodlife]

when they are really ripe they are nice

That's it...they need to be properly ripe for eating as the are.

The good thing about RC is that bushes are easily trainable...being strong growers, if you take most of the old wood out..the new growth soon emerge and you can turn the bush into almost any shape you wish, they don't necessary take that much room.
Or if you want to move it....it will happily grow under larger fruit trees or be part of hedge.

One thing about how to use them, forgot to mention it...I use the berries as alternative for cranberries/lingon berries. I still do and eat many Scandinavian/Finnish dishes where lingonberry sauce or mushed up berries are used as ingredient or condiment. My lingon berry plants don't produce many berries...yet...and redcurrants are brilliant replacement  Years ago, when I took my first plot, planting a red currant bush was one of the first things I did do  ...and the same bush is still with me 

But only you know if you have room and use for their crop.

[Borlotti]

No apart from the birds love them bùt will keep my old bushes at allotment typlng 2 slow on tablet

[plotstoeat]

They are useful to mix with other berries for freezing and using in recipes like summer pudding.
Also I like the point made by others about feeding birds. We should always think of the wildlife 

[Paulh]

They are useful to mix with other berries for freezing and using in recipes like summer pudding.
Also I like the point made by others about feeding birds. We should always think of the wildlife 

Absolutely essential for summer pudding!

[winecap]

Relating to the question of whether redcurrants are good to eat straight off the bush, I have to say mine are quite challenging. A friend of mine has a bush with larger berries that actually do taste nice.  I am happy to use mine for making jelly, but I do plan to take cuttings from his. I have no idea though what any of the varieties are.

[sparrow]

They have to be really ripe to eat without looking like you're chewing a wasp. Mine go a lovely dark colour when they are ready.

I love 'em. My Rovada are later ripening than Jonken van Tets so I have a longer season. I will eat them in almost anything, but my favourite is with eggedosis (raw egg whipped with sugar till it's the palest cream colour).

Jelly is also a must - I use 50% sugar to fruit and still get a good set.

[ACE]

Now, if I was going to have one of those spongey flan things, (just a very titchy slice) and it was filled with raspberries and red currants. The afore mentioned flan would have to be so well hidden otherwise it would become part of my five a  day. (Five slices that is). Raspberries and red currents are the nectar of the gods.

[grannyjanny]

I found some still on the Bush probably September time. They didn't make it home. Quite sweet. I ate them all. I don't make jams as I try avoid sugar. Can't stand sweeteners but I do freeze them. After watch the album, allotment programme I might make some fruit syrups. Very interested in goodlife's fruit steamer though.

[goodlife]

I found some still on the Bush probably September time. They didn't make it home. Quite sweet. I ate them all. I don't make jams as I try avoid sugar. Can't stand sweeteners but I do freeze them. After watch the album, allotment programme I might make some fruit syrups. Very interested in goodlife's fruit steamer though.

Janet...my steamer is this one... http://www.vigopresses.co.uk/Catalogue/Steam-Juice-Extractor/Mehu-Liisa-Fruit-Vegetable-Steamer-99059
It is big lot of pans to store but the lid does fit well to each section so there is multiple uses to it if one wants to get every day  use out of it.
Last autumn my freezer broke down, I put all berries together and steamed 'virgin' juices out of them to bottle..and because the berry pulp  still had plenty of juice in it, I stirred bit more water in, some sweeterner and thickened it all with potato flour to make nice sauce to go with yogurt. Not a single berry wasted..!
I used to make litres and litres of juice one time...but kind of 'forgot' it all..and the steamer haven't seen much action until recently.
But now that I've remembered again  how handy this apparatus is...I won't be leaving quite so much berries in bush for birds to feast on...or one must plant some more bushes...

[grannyjanny]

That looks very interesting good life. Did you bring it back from a trip home or........?

[goodlife]

That looks very interesting good life. Did you bring it back from a trip home or........?

Well...I didn't bring it from 'home'..but it did come from there. When I first moved over here, my country relatives did buy it for me (us) ...kind of 'wedding/housewarming/good luck to future' pressie. Little did they/I knew that one could get one over here too..

[winecap]

Reading your post about the steam juicer reminded me that I once had something similar. Not being able to recall getting rid of it, I started searching and found a Saftborn steam juicer in the storage hole behind my fridge freezer. Its been there since I moved house over 10 years ago. As I recall it was a gift that a girlfriend bought as the box had pictures of fruit and veg on it so she thought I may like it. She gave it to me and then asked me what it was. To be honest I had no idea what to do with it and I vaguely remember the instructions being in German. I think I used it once, but I can see a new lease of life for it now. Thanks for the reminder! I am tempted to see what berries are in the freezer to give it a go.

[goodlife]

Reading your post about the steam juicer reminded me that I once had something similar. Not being able to recall getting rid of it, I started searching and found a Saftborn steam juicer in the storage hole behind my fridge freezer. Its been there since I moved house over 10 years ago. As I recall it was a gift that a girlfriend bought as the box had pictures of fruit and veg on it so she thought I may like it. She gave it to me and then asked me what it was. To be honest I had no idea what to do with it and I vaguely remember the instructions being in German. I think I used it once, but I can see a new lease of life for it now. Thanks for the reminder! I am tempted to see what berries are in the freezer to give it a go.

Your girlfriend did have good taste for pressies.. If you cannot make any sense about the instructions...you can find some instructions here..http://www.muurikka.co.uk/Mehuliisa.html Not the same model than you have but perhaps it will give you more idea what to do with yours...

[plotstoeat]

Used a few more redcurrants tonight. Dinner finished with mixed berry pavlova. Yummy!

[artichoke]

I spent a couple of weeks in Finland years ago (a conference about peat bog restoration plus installation art....!) and one thing I particularly remember is that EVERY meal included redcurrants. They seemed to be regarded as a condiment that improved every dish, and they were lovely and refreshing.

I have a bush that I have not looked after, and birds get everything most years, but I also have a lot of rooted cuttings at the moment (I like to mark rows of things with twigs cut from fruit bushes, and many of them grow roots) so this is to be The Year Of The Redcurrants.

We don't often have lamb, but if we do, mint sauce and redcurrant jelly are essential.

I have mentioned before that my white currant bushes seem comparatively invisible to birds and I get a much better crop without protection - and their jelly goes pink and tastes much like red currant jelly.

At West Dean College, where I used to be a tutor several times a year, they grow red currants in the gardens as columns against a wall. They carried heavy crops and took up very little space.