Red, White, Black, Gooseberry, Jostaberry are all part of the current family, and they all can be very successfully cloned by pinning.

What are some good reason you would want to pin your favorites? or ask your friend to do so on a type or bush you admire.

1. Free Plants, why buy more, when you can easily working with your mother plants create more.
2. Clone your Favorites
3. Can share your old faithful or your new WOW favorite with Friends, Family and FARMGATE SALES
4. You can create a whole new starter hedgerow this year to be planted out next year!
5. Micro zone: you know this plant works in your soil, your climate and you know the parents health status!

What do you need?

1. Mother plant of your choice
2. A way to pin the stem to the ground, this can be ground staple, this can be as frugal as a rock if need be, or a small wedge of wood. I recommend using a steel staple for best results but i am going to own that i have been known to lower a branch, pop a rock on it to hold it in place with the rest up in the air.. the rock is big enough to keep that spot down, small enough to not effect the rest of the plant and the next year just remove it, cut on the mother plant side, lift the rock, take up the rooted and the front branch, i will trim the branch to match the root ball, and replant or pot up. The reason we ideally buy and use the metal pins, they can clean them, we can see where they are, and no one is going to think that its a rock in a odd place and move it (trust me its happened lol) but if you pin, i recommend covering that area with a bit of good soil
3. Time, don’t be in a rush, give them a year to root and grow, cut and remove them in the spring before they fully wake up.

Currents are easy to grow in most climates, as a northern gardener, the fact that they are zone 3 to zone 8 with a few even doing well enough in zone 2 with a bit of help makes them a fundamental in homestead gardens.

We are always looking for ways on the homestead to have things to offer at the farmgate or the farmers market stall, a few well grown potting up current bushes are a very welcome item to add, as is the Juice, Jelly, Jams, crushed and dried fruits are amazing to add to tea blends or in baking or think outside the box for meat glazes, salad dressings or more.

Here are a few favorites i have shared over the years! What are some of your personal favorite ways to use currents, do you like one type over another?

Indulgent Red Current Chocolate Cake Recipe

Black Current Bundt Cake Recipe | Just another Day on the Farm

Orange Black Current Cookie Recipe | Just another Day on the Farm