Anyone growing this currant? It's a native currant and I've heard it's very good and can fruit here in 9b. I'd like to get cuttings if anyone has this. I have cuttings I can trade of other plants (see link).

http://www.kevinsedibleyard.com/whats-growing/

Also would like to see pictures/taste reports, or hear of anyone successfully growing ribes in Zone 9 and up.

would be interested too.  I am in zone 7 so I am able to grow some regular varieties of currents and gooseberries but would be interested in growing some varieties that do well in heat. 

We were looking for currents around xmas time to make a recipe. We didnt know what a current was. What the heck is a current?

We have family members that really enjoy currants and I found dried ones at nuts.com.  I ate some dried ones off of their black currant bush and found them tasty.  So last year I ordered a Pink Champagne from Starks and bought a red one from a local nursery.  So far the deer have left them alone.  :0)   Because of some kind of disease there are states that don't allow them.  I believe besides jams they are used in fruit cakes and such.  I would dry them and keep on hand for stews and breads.

They (Ribes odoratum) grow wild here. The fruit ranges from yellow to black and from slightly astringent to very sweet (for a currant). The flowers are yellow and fragrant, pretty in the spring. I can share cuttings for postage or trade, but it will be a mix of wild unselected material. I can't comment on how they would do in zone 9 in general, would assume they would be ok in the Bay Area.

Too bad you didn't ask a little earlier, I just flew home from San Jose last night. I could have brought you some.

I am in zone 7 and I have three varieties of the native clove currant; Crandall, Prutterberry, and an unnamed. This will be the 3rd year for the Crandalls and I am looking forward to a fairly good harvest. The other two are younger so I don't know what to expect. None of mine are big enough to take cuttings. There are several sources for good Crandall plants. The Prutterberry variety is an heirloom I got from a man in Kansas.

The clove currant is bigger, sweeter, and milder tasting than the European blackcurrant. But it is great for fresh eating, on cereal, and I hear in pies. Last year I did not have enough crop to do a pie, but I am hoping to this year.

There are also many native reds and oranges that grow in the western states. But few of these have good enough fruit to be cultivated. I would stick to one of the clove currants if I were you.

Thanks for the offer Andy. I'm just looking for the clove currant because supposedly it is good out of hand. I like to eat most of my fruit fresh. I agree though all currants are very ornamental. If you wanted to stop by my small edible lot next you are in town you are more than welcome.

Bump this topic when you get your crop of Crandall Gene. Looking forward to your taste report. 

Someone mentioned dried currants from the store. There is a variety of grape called "currant" and that is usually what you are seeing at the store, they are not actually currants but tiny raisins. 

Richard:  currents are small tart berries that grow on bushes. The fruit grows on trusses like mini clusters of grapes. Reds and whites are quite mild while black varieties can be very strongly flavored.  Dried they are similar in taste but smaller than raisins. I prefer them to raisins in baked goods. Fresh, they are great in fruit salads and as toppings for deserts the same way you might use strawberries or raspberries. Current syrups are great over ice cream or custards, in drinks like ginger ale or in Champagne (Cassis - syrup made from black currents is popular in Europe). Jostaberries are a cross between a black current and a gooseberry. They are a little larger than a black current.  Red currents are often used to make sauces for wild game such as venison much like cranberry sauce for Chicken or apples for wild pork.

Once established, they are incredibly tolerant of neglect and produce well regardless of a wide range of rainfall from one year to the next.  They do not spread as fast as blackberries or or raspberries but they do put out new plants from the roots or low lying branches which can be easily dug up and moved to the row.  They are banned in some states because many varieties were an intermediate host to the organism responsible for pine blights. New cultivars of black currents do not have this trait and are now possible to grow in all but a few states where timber is a mainstay to the economy. Some states still have the provision that current plants must be planted at least XXX feet from the nearest pine. As you can probably tell, they are one of my favorite fruits but most varieties do not do well in heat. For most varieties, zone 7 is the southern limit. A few strains can be found which list zone 8 as their limit. Clove Currents appear to tolerate much more heat than other varieties and are often sold as growing as far south as zones 8 or 9. I have only read about them. Guess Crandalls will be going on my add list along with a couple of zone 8 heat tolerant gooseberries for pies. Thanks for the varietal info, Gene.

Check back with me in the fall and I may have some suckers to dig and share.

:)  :)))))

I really like Crandall, IMO it is the best currant for eating out of hand, they will hang on the bush forever and I think afer they turn black the longer they hang the better and more complex they get, to a point. I went berry crazy in the yard of my last house and had many varieties of currant and gooseberry. I am re-establishing a Crandall at our present house. At this house I have had an Imperial White currant and a couple varieties of gooseberry established, but decided to removed them. I like Imperial's flavor, but don't care for the 3 big seeds found in red and white currants; they do make terrific jelly though, if you have time and the space for a bush you can devote to only jelly. Gooseberries turned into just another variety of berry that sometimes will harbor SWD, and I'm not willing to fight for them so I just removed them. I did have one variety(out of 4) at my old house that to me was a stand-out, a peach colored variety from Poland called Jewel. If I have space and a yard that doesn't have SWD in the future, I will likely grow Jewel again. Black currants, I had two other varieties Ben Sarek and Black Down. I never tasted Black Down because it was added later on, Ben Sarek..I don't get it. I liked to refer to Ben Sarek as "the Vomit Berry", meaning..you know the flavor that rides your palate for 5-25 minutes after you throw-up? That's what, to me, Ben Sarek tastes like. The nice thing about currants, if you like them, they are about the easiest thing on the face of the planet to propagate. Just take a cutting in the early spring before or at bud break and burry it 1/2-3/4 the way and keep it moist and mostly shaded, thats it. If you buy an established plant your supposed to cut it down to a couple growth buds at planting, so if you want more bushes just take your trimmings from the first one and plant them wherever you want another bush.

Ohjustaguy, thank you for calling my attention to the grape marketed as "currants".   Apparently 2 years ago I sent 5 lbs. of dried grapes to my daughter in law.   : 0 (       I would have never have known my mistake.  I still like nuts.com but I will email them a letter about this.  It is also my fault because I didn't take the time to read everything.  My mistake.  I have grown tomatoes called currant tomatoes.  Very prolific but not something I will repeat.  Again, thanks for words of wisdom!

I got some Black Currant cuttings for trade if anyone is interested

I ordered some Crandall currants off Ebay. Looks like Rolling River Nursery has them as well if anyone is interested. If they fruit in 9b I'll for sure let everyone know!