What's currant?

This month fruit expert David Patch takes a look at why blackcurrants and redcurrants are a great growing choice

- David Patch

In terms of beginner-friendliness, all currants are pretty much at the top of the 'I want to have a go at growing some fruit but don't have a clue where to begin' list. One plant won't cost much and it'll produce a lot of fruit. Currants have a short shelf life, so are hard to find in the shops, but are an amazingly versatile fruit in the kitchen. They don't do well in pots but are very happy in heavy soils and will tolerate some shade. And they don't take up much room, so you can fit one into any size of garden, no matter how small.

Although all these fruits generally come under the same term of 'currant' they are actually two distinct species. The blackcurrant is Ribes nigrum, while the red, white and pink currant are all differently coloured fruit of Ribes rubrum. This might seem an unimportant distinction, but the two species are completely different and this has a large impact on how we grow and prune them. So let's look at each of them in turn and see what they have in common and, more importantly, what are the differences, so we can grow all of them to the peak of perfection.

BLACKCURRANT BASICS