Blackcurrants

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There is a blackcurrant bush on the corner of garden #43. This season has produced a bumper crop, more than the owner could ever use. Words of gratidute are offered to those who help themselves to the surplus crop. Unfortunately the slugs are not happy, they had other ideas.

Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum) plants are native to northern Europe and northern Asia. This particular bush has an interesting history. At the end of the First World War, newly weds Jean and Louise decided to leave the Basque country and immigrate to the new world. Basque communities were being established in Oregon and Vancouver, Canada, the latter was chosen has their new home. Traveling that distance meant traveling with minimal luggage. Included were basic clothing, their quilt, and a few seeds for the new garden and a rootstock for a blackcurrant bush. Years later their daughter-in-law, Moira took a cutting from that bush and transplanted it to the Agnes St Gardens.

Blackcurrants are very high in vitamin C, (181 mg per 100g), which is higher than oranges. During the Second World War, in Britain, blackcurrants became the main source of this vitamin became of the unavailability of other fruits. Blackcurrants grow well in the UK climate and starting in 1942, blackcurrants were made into syrup and given free to the children to ward off diseases like scurvy.

In the United States, blackcurrant farming was banned in the 1900s. It was believed the bush could carry a blister rust that would threaten the trees in the forests and damage the logging industry. The ban is still in effect in some states, but with the efforts of some horticulturists it is slowly being lifted. Blackcurrants are enjoyed in many Commonwealth countries: for instance New Zealand exports $3.6 million dollars of this fruit to Japan each year to be used as dietary supplements.

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Because of the balance of sweetness and astringency these berries make excellent jams and jellies. In Russia they are used for wine making and it is not uncommon to find some dark beer drinkers adding a tablespoon of blackcurrant syrup to their stout to improve the flavour. Adding the syrup to cider makes a drink known as “Cider and Black”, adding it to a lager creates “Diesel” or “Snakebite and Black.”

The health benefits of blackcurrants are well known. These berries not only have a high level of vitamin C, but also good levels of potassium, phosphorous, iron and vitamin B5. Other phytochemicals (polyphenols/anthocyanins) have demonstrated, in laboratory experiments, the ability to reduce inflammation. These are the same chemicals found in red wine and have similar health benefits.