What to do with a 1/2 tonne of blackcurrants?

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Fair one!

[MaxwellArb]

Well, I can sympathise with that one. My missus has decided we need to grow enough hanging basket tomato plants to reforest all of the Amazon area even though we do only have 3 baskets to put them in. Enough aloe vera plants to treat the casualties of a medium size nuclear explosion and has now moved on to mass curry plant propagation.

 

As for gooseberries, I would guess we have picked and sold about 5 tons so far this year.

 

Better half and myself are just crying helplessly with laughter at your perfect description of her mum!! Absolutely brilliant. :-)

[difflock]

Going to be expensive jam if we price in the picking labour!

2 of us for about 10 hours each today = 35 kg picked and cleaned.

In the pissing rain.

But we got 32 No. nominally 8 kg bags put away.(And prob just over 1/2 way)

PS

The wife also discovered 3 hybrid blackcurrant/goosberry crosses, at the top of a blackcurrant stem directly above a small gooseberry bush.

She had picked the biggest most gooseberry looking one before she realized.

Still very unripe so probably the seeds will not grow?

[Adam M]

Mix them up with some woodchip and mulch the hell out of a worthy veteran tree. Then take photos and keep us updated as to how it pans out.

[difflock]

Ca?

My understanding was the gooseberry had fertilized these 3 blackcurrant flowers.

Hence the hybrid fruit.

Need to get the hybrid seeds to germinate, to see what fruit (if any) they in turn produce.

cheers

m

[Farmer Tom]

Really interested to hear about the hybrid, be interested to hear how they taste.

 

As for the raspberries, Cranachan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ?

[djbobbins]

If you want something to try, blackcurrant brandy.

 

Bottle of brandy, 350g sugar, 900g blackcurrants.

 

Crush the fruit slightly in a sterilised preserving jar, put in sugar, pour brandy over the top and shake gently until all the sugar is dissolved.

 

Leave in a dark place for two months, shaking gently occasionally.

 

Drink as a mixer with champagne or neat.

 

And the boozy fruit can be kept for cooking with! ;-)

 

 

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[Peasgood]

Ca?

My understanding was the gooseberry had fertilized these 3 blackcurrant flowers.

Hence the hybrid fruit.

Need to get the hybrid seeds to germinate, to see what fruit (if any) they in turn produce.

cheers

m

Have never heard of this and I am far from convinced it is even possible.

If anything shouldn't it be the plants that result from the seed that showed a variation in the fruit rather than the fruit of the cross pollinated plant?

Any pictures? And I am dying to say it was a gall wasp

 

p.s. we picked 1/3 of a ton of raspberries today, and yesterday, and the day before................

Edited July 14, 2014 by Peasgood

[Chippy]

Spray gooseberrys with 10% washing up liquid 90% water did this to mine last year and had no sawfly this year. Had first crop for a few years this time

[Lee Winger]

If the currents didnt cost you much financialy how about give them away? To the elderly or anyone that will make good use of them. I catch more fish than my family will ever eat, my elderly neighbours rarely ever need to buy fish, it makes you feel good inside...

 

 

I've found the act of charity to repays itself over and over..