From: "William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>
To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Jostaberries
Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2007 18:45:37 -0500
For those who haven't experienced this fruit, it is tart but
delicious, there are no major pests or diseases, and they grow in my
unamended clay soil like champs.
This is interesting, Michele. Where are you growing these?
I looked into Jostaberries when I was looking for fruiting bushes to
plant, before I joined this list. But I found considerable disagreement
about them. Many sources said they were mediocre in taste ("small,
thick-skinned, pulpy"), while others said they were good-tasting fresh.
One site said, "They are the size of a small gooseberry and lacking in
flavor, suitable only for experimentation. Buffalo currant produces
comparable fruit more abundantly in less space and is recommended instead."
Of course, I'm sure you'll find disagreement about all fruit. But on the
Internet, nurseries seem to praise anything they sell, so I've tended to
believe the naysayers. At any rate, I ended up planting clove or buffalo
currants (Ribes odoratum) instead. They seem to be doing fine, but our
late freeze killed the flowers, so I'll have to wait until next year to
see how they produce and how they taste.
Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)
--
Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he's buying. - Fran
Lebowitz