La black currant It is a lush and very productive shrub that can be grown both in a pot and in the garden. Its fruits, the size of a grape but the color of wild olives, are edible, and in fact juices can be made with them.
Would you like to know how it is cared for? Well, keep reading 🙂.
How is it?
Our protagonist is a shrub native to eastern and central Europe whose scientific name is Ribes nigrum but which is much more known as black currant, black sarsaparilla, cassis, black grill or black currant. It grows to a height of 1,5 meters, and has lobed, toothed leaves, with a pale underside.
The flowers are reddish-pink and greenish. The fruit is a black berry with smooth, aromatic and edible skin (but not raw).
What is your cultivation?
The next:
- Location: full sun.
- Earth:
- Pot: substrate for acidic plants (you can buy it here).
- Garden: acidic, fresh and rich in organic matter.
- Irrigation: frequent. You have to water every 2 days in summer and every 4-5 days the rest of the year.
- Pruning: dry, diseased or weak branches must be cut in autumn or at the end of winter.
- Planting or transplanting time: in spring, when the risk of frost has passed.
- Harvest: in summer.
- Multiplication: by seeds, cuttings or division in spring.
- Rusticity: withstands cold and frosts down to -7ºC.
What is?
The black currant has several uses, which are:
Culinary
The fruits are used as toppings for cakes, sorbets, jellies and jams. Also as a base for dishes and puree. In France they make a liqueur called creme de cassis, which is a dark red sweet liqueur with a creamy and concentrated consistency.
Medicinal
The fruits are rich in vitamin C, which is why they have been used to prevent diseases such as scurvy. What's more, have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties.
Image - Thefruitnut.com
What did you think of the black currant?