In 2010, I pinned down five branches off my two biggest red current bushes on the farm. they were planted as two year old potted red current from a local greenhouse our first year on the farm and I let them root down for the year

in the spring of 2011. We trimmed them off the adult plants where it came up to join the parent plant and with care worked it out the pin and the laying I covered over that section of the branch.. what came up is a huge lovely mass of roots.. such a pretty sight.

After clearing and preparing the hole and mixing the soil with compost, we planted these rooted stems up to the start of the branch (which had just starting buds on it in early spring) We should have made the hole a bit bigger and pulled the grass back more but it was done the next year, it didn’t hold the current bush back.

Don’t prune on the first year, just let it grow and put those roots in and start shaping the bush the next spring, I take two years to get it to full shape and then just let it grow and it will be producing outstanding red currents in no time flat!

By doing this we have a dozen red currents bushes and I plan to make more to transplant into the food hedge row at the front.. one more thing that needs to be done this year. The reward from these bushes.. wonderful currents..

This year, the birds are loving them just a little to much.. but we still will have a good crop coming in, I am out of Red Current Jelly and that is one of my mom’s favorite, last year I had enough Red Current Jelly left that I made them all into Red Current Juice.

I will be making some of them into regular jelly with pectin and some I will be making Red Current-Gooseberry Current (using the Gooseberry as the pectin) and I will also be making at least one batch of Red Current-Elderflower Jelly.

Do you have a way you love to use Red Current Jelly? that you want to share with me?

How many current bushes do you have? Do you like the red best or do you like black current or white current more.. on my farm, I have all three but its the red that is the productive currents.. they out grow and out produce the other colors by a landslide.