North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Brungardt, Sam (MPCA)" <sam.brungardt@state.mn.us>]

I think we all prize wild or unusual fruits that were available where we grew 
up more than people who did not grow up eating them.

I grew up in west-central Kansas and golden, clove, or buffalo currant (R. 
aureum) grew in many roadside no-man's-lands, northern and eastern hillsides, 
and in pastures.  My folks packed us into the family car along with buckets 
and a currant picking we did go.  The flavor of those wild currants was 
sweeter and had more depth than the fruit I pick off my lone 'Crandall' plant 
here in St. Paul.  Currant picking season in Kansas was generally late June 
to mid-July.  Here it is mid- to late August.  Picked dead ripe, the wild 
currants were very sweet, albeit with a rather tart aftertaste.  My mom made 
pies from them, and in my opinion warm wild currant pie with vanilla ice 
cream is still hard to beat.  She also made a lot of wild currant jelly, 
which was one of our family's favorites.  And she canned the berries and 
juice for use during the winter.  We even made wild currant wine, but not as 
much as chokecherry wine.  Some folks even used wild currants to make Volga 
German-style sheet Kuchen.

These wild currants may not be as productive as the lone 'Crandall' plant I 
have in my yard here in St. Paul (which often yields more than a gallon of 
berries), but they were much sweeter and the flowers were more fragrant.  I'd 
like to credit this to my aging taste buds and olfactory sense, but I cannot 
since I have confirmed this observation in Kansas within the past year.  My 
guess is the 'Crandall' plant I have is a seedling of the 'Crandall' line, 
and I'm beginning to suspect there is considerable variability among the 
seedlings, judging by what others have to say.

Lastly, someone asked me when I prune my 'Crandall'.  I prune it in the 
spring before it blooms, removing any wood that is more than 3 years old.  
Buds at the base of the branches break shortly after bloom. -- Sam Brungardt, 
St. Paul, Minn. (USDA hardiness zone 4b).

  

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org 
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Richard Moyer
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2011 1:13 PM
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Clove currant Ribes aureum

Good to see this fruit discussed.  Lee Reich has excellent info on it,
in his "Uncommon Fruits" books.
For the cultivar 'Crandall', see this publication, your library can
get it through interlibrary loan:
Hummer, K. E. and S. Pluta (1996). Surprise: It's Crandall. Fruit
Varieties Journal 50(2): 74-75
Stan Pluta is a currant researcher from Poland, who spent a sabbatical
evaluating the black currant collection at the Corvallis NCGR.
'Crandall' is one of the short list he took back to Poland, for future
breeding work.

In my experience, 'Crandall' has been self fertile.

Note that some also list clove currant as Ribes odoratum, reflecting
the flower scent, over its color.  If I remember correctly the species
distinction is artificial, according the 'lumpers' among the
botanists, as the two are very similar to identical, separated by the
Rocky Mountains.

Search NAFEX list archives for lengthy discussions about the fruit
quality.  It's one that improves greatly with cooking, so judging it
raw (even when fully ripe) puts many off.  Some (my family included)
consider it among our best jams.  It has some of the same pigments
(anthocyanins) and flavors as Euro black currants, but is also
distinct in lab analyses of flavor/aroma profiles.

And from the Corvallis NCGR: the farm crew threatened new hires if
they do something boneheaded, the punishment would be eating black
currants raw.  This threat was purported to keep them in line.

Richard Moyer
SW VA  Mulberries ripe
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