Green gardening: Growing currants

Red and black currant bushes are widely available in Canada. Red currants do best in cooler humid regions and are used for desserts, preserves, or wine and, while black currants are not as common, many nurseries offer plants.

Both red and black currants have similar uses and can be grown as bushes, usually on a 20-centimetre or eight-inch leg — or cordons — single, double, or triple. While currants are self-fertile, if you plant more than one variety, you can extend the cropping season and not have all the fruit ripening in the same few days. Bushes will be productive for at least 20 years, so it will pay to search for varieties not available locally.

The average family needs four to six bushes or 12 to 15 cordons.

Early:

•  Cascade has large berries. This variety originated in Minnesota and so is a good choice for gardens in cold climates.
• Jonkheer van Tets is an older European variety.

Mid-season:

• Red Lake is the most widely grown of all red currants and is very hardy. It produces large crops of lightish-red berries in long clusters that are easy to pick.
• Diploma has medium-long clusters of dark red fruit.

Late:

• Cherry makes a vigorous, dense plant with medium-sized fruit.

Midseason:

• White Imperial and White Pearl are the most widely available. Both have medium-sized fruit; that of 'White Pearl' has a slight pink tinge.

Early:

• Boskoop Giant, a European variety that is very hardy.
• Topsy is the first to ripen and has good-quality fruit.

Midseason:

• Consort has small fruit but is resistant to white pine blister rust.
• Wellington XXX is another old variety that is still popular.

Late:

• Champion has short clusters of fruit, but is the last to ripen.
• Raven has extra-large berries and crops well.

Before planting, dig the bed over, and thoroughly work in rich compost or a balanced organic fertilizer blend. The plants are especially susceptible to potash deficiency, which causes leaf edges to appear scorched. Almost any water-retaining but well-drained soil is suitable, although red currants do best in lighter soils. They will thrive in either sun or partial shade.

• Plant in early spring or fall.
• Place bushes one and a half metres (five feet) apart; single cordons, 35 centimetres (14 inches) apart; double, 75 centimetres ( 29 and a half inches) apart; and triple, 110 centimetres (43 inches) apart.
• Cordon rows should be about 1.2 metres (four feet) apart. Cordons need five- by five-centimetre (two- by two-inch) stakes for each stem. Use stakes two and a half metres (eight feet) long with two metres (six and a half feet) above ground level.
• Another method is to grow rows against three or four horizontal wires at 60-centimetre (25-inch) intervals and tie them to vertical canes fastened to the wires.
• In late winter or early spring, feed with alfalfa meal or blood meal, ringed 30 centimetres (12 inches) away from the plant base. Add a five-centimetre (two-inch) mulch of well-rotted manure or compost.
• Control weeds by mulching or by hand weeding. Do not hoe.
• Water only during prolonged dry spells.
• Take out any suckers that spring from the main stem or the roots.
• If frost lifts young plants, firm them in with your feet.
• Strong winds may break off shoots.
• On young bushes stake those shoots that are important to maintain the shape.
• Birds are one of the main problems for currant growers. They will damage buds and strip the plant of fruit. Netting is a good means of protection.
• Pick fruit as soon as it is ripe. Harvest time is usually in early summer.