Redcurrant

Origin & history

The redcurrant is one of the few fruits in a German garden that did not come up from the south: Ribes rubrum and its closest relatives grow wild across western and central Europe, in damp woodland and along streams. It was taken into cultivation late, in the 15th and 16th centuries, above all in the Netherlands, northern France and Denmark — the Romans did not know it. Its German name comes from St John’s Day on 24 June, around which the early varieties ripen. White currants are botanically the same species, simply a colour form with less acid.

Varieties

Two varieties cover the whole span. “Jonkheer van Tets” is the early classic, picking from late June, vigorous and large-berried — but it flowers early and is exposed to late frost. “Rovada” flowers about a fortnight later, misses those frosts and carries strikingly long, evenly filled strings into early August that pick fast. Buy two- to three-year-old bushes with four to six strong shoots from the base; a single thin whip costs you two years. White varieties such as “Weiße Versailler” are grown in exactly the same way and taste milder.

Care

Unlike the blackcurrant it is not set deeper than it stood in the nursery — you do not want a thicket of shoots from the base but a framework of a few branches that stays put for years. The roots run shallow: do not hoe deep, but lay compost over the root area in spring and grass clippings or leaves on top. Berry size is decided by water between flowering and picking — a dry May means small berries. A half-shaded spot really does crop, even against an east wall, which is rare among fruit. As soon as the first strings take colour a net goes over the bush, or blackbirds will strip it in three days.

What can go wrong

Red blisters on the leaves come from currant blister aphid. They look dramatic and cost almost no crop; the aphid moves on to woundwort in June anyway, and you can simply nip out the worst shoot tips. Poor set matters more: strings carrying only three or four berries. The usual cause is cold wet weather during flowering, when no bee is out — the only answer is a later-flowering variety. If the leaves drop as early as August it was currant leaf spot: rake up and remove the fallen leaves in autumn, keep the bush open and airy, and water at the base rather than over the foliage.

Harvest, storage & kitchen

Pick whole strings by the stalk rather than single berries, or they burst and bleed. Leave them hanging three or four days after they colour, which takes the hardest edge off the acid; after heavy rain, though, they shed. Fresh they keep only two or three days. The best trick is freezing: lay the strings flat on a tray, freeze them through, then shake the tray and the berries drop off the stalks by themselves. The juice sets on its own, so jelly and Rote Grütze are the classic uses — along with the meringue-topped cake in which the egg white catches the acid.

Frequently asked questions

When are redcurrants ripe?

Depending on the variety, from late June to early August. Early ones are ready at the end of June, late ones carry on into August — with two varieties in the garden the picking season stretches over six weeks instead of two.

When do you plant a redcurrant, and when does it crop?

Best from early October to the end of November, while the soil is still workable: the bush roots in before it breaks bud. The first worthwhile pick comes in the second summer after planting, the full crop from about year four.

Do I need two redcurrant bushes to get fruit?

No, the common varieties are self-fertile and a single bush will crop. A second variety within reach still improves the set noticeably, because more insects work the flowers and the strings fill out more evenly.

Can I propagate a redcurrant myself?

Yes, from hardwood cuttings, and it works almost every time: in November cut pencil-thick one-year-old shoots into 20-centimetre pieces, rub off the lower buds and push them into loose soil so only two buds show. By the next autumn you have a bush ready to plant out.