2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The benefits of black currant berries have been known for a long time. A large amount of vitamin C makes it indispensable in the diet. The fragrant finished product is good in any form: fresh, frozen, compote, jam, jelly. How to properly plant and care for a valuable crop?
Preferences
Black currant loves loose, fertile, air-permeable soils with a neutral reaction of the environment. It develops better in open, sunny areas. In the shade, the amount of nutrients in the berries, the yield decreases.
The close occurrence of groundwater is detrimental to the root system, reaching a depth of 1.5 m. Lowered areas, with late spring frosts, can destroy all the buds during flowering, negating the efforts to care for the bushes.
Planting 2-3 varieties side by side provides additional cross-pollination, a higher percentage of ovaries. Warm weather during flowering increases the yield due to pollinating insects (bees, bumblebees). It winters well without shelter in the Central lane and more northern regions.
Landing
The best time to plant is early spring, before bud break. Layout scheme 2, 3x1-1, 4 m. Pits are dug in late autumn with a diameter of 0.5 m, a depth of 40 cm. Fill with a mixture. A glass of wood ash, 150 g of superphosphate is added to a bucket of humus. In the spring they turn into forms accessible to plants, the soil shrinks.
With the onset of warm weather in the next season, two-year-old seedlings are planted, deepening the root collar by 8-10 cm to form additional roots.
For better tillering, the central leader is cut at a height of 15-20 cm from the ground, leaving 3-5 buds. Sprinkle with humus mixed with sand, garden soil in a ratio of 2: 1: 2. They compact the soil. Sprinkle with water to shrink.
Care
Weeds are weeded throughout the season. In dry periods, watered 2-4 times a month at the rate of a bucket under an adult bush.
2-3 years after planting, they feed them with a complex fertilizer or make up mixtures themselves from potassium salt 15-20 g, superphosphate 30-40 g, ammonium nitrate 20-30 g. Dry components are scattered in early spring over the surface, distributing evenly over 1 square meter of area. Water the bushes to dissolve fertilizers.
In the summer they are fed 2 times: during flowering, fruit setting. Prepare a solution of nettle infusion with the addition of a superphosphate matchbox to a bucket of liquid.
At the beginning of the season, they carry out sanitary pruning of bushes, removing dried, broken branches. At 4-5 years of age, the bushes are rejuvenated by cutting out old shoots with an annual growth of less than 5 cm. Every year, 3 strongest basal replacement shoots are left. An adult fruiting bush ideally consists of 15-18 branches of different ages.
The effective age of black currant is 10-12 years. Then the yield drops sharply. Radical rejuvenating pruning, which activates the growth of young shoots, helps to extend the life span.
Grandma's jelly recipe
For many years, my grandmother cooked currant jelly. It turned out to be amazingly tasty and thick. It took little time to cook. At the same time, all the vitamins in the berries were preserved. I bring to your attention the recipe, as written in the original.
Rinse the black currants, remove the twigs. Spread out on a towel to dry. Prepare syrup from 15 glasses of granulated sugar, 7 glasses of water.
Pour 22 cups of berries into the hot mass. After boiling, remove the foam. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Then add 15 more glasses of sand.
Turn off the gas. Continue stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. While hot, spread over sterilized jars. Close with nylon or iron lids.
After cooling, store in the cellar until requested.
In terms of kilograms, the ratio of berries and sugar is approximately 1: 2. Such jelly keeps well. The density of the mass allows it to be spread successfully on bread. With a smaller amount of the original product, the recalculation is carried out in proportion to the initial parameters.
I wish you excellent harvests of tasty and healthy berries!
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