5 Comments


  1. You have blackcurrants? Do you harvest them? make jam etc? Also, since this is in the way of a test comment too, I shall include a link to the wikipedia article on blackcurrants which informs me:

    Blackcurrants were once popular in the United States as well, but became rare in the 20th century after currant farming was banned in the early 1900s, when blackcurrants, as a vector of white pine blister rust, were considered a threat to the U.S. logging industry. The federal ban on growing currants was shifted to jurisdiction of individual states in 1966, and was lifted in New York State in 2003 through the efforts of horticulturist Greg Quinn. As a result, currant growing is making a comeback in New York, Vermont, Connecticut and Oregon. However, several statewide bans still exist including Maine and New Hampshire.

    Since the American federal ban ceased currant production nationally for nearly a century, the fruit remains largely unknown in the United States, and has yet to regain its previous popularity to levels enjoyed in Europe or New Zealand. Owing to its unique flavour and richness in polyphenols, dietary fibre and essential nutrients, awareness and popularity of blackcurrant is once again growing, with a number of consumer products entering the market.

    However I’m not sure whether that cite tag will work as I intend it to.


    1. Thanks. I’m not actually testing the new comments plugin here yet, just at VN — where I see your comment got held for moderation for some reason.

      Cite tags should be reserved for citations, and may be nested within blockquotes.


      1. Ah, well, at least one of us has learned something.

        I think the VN comment was held because it had two links in it – I should have posted raw urls instead maybe, in my efforts better to emulate a bot.


    2. Oh, and no, we haven’t done anything with those currants yet. They volunteered on the stereambank below the house and are slowly spreading despite frequent cropping by deer. We used to have a lot of red currants and even some gooseberries back in the 70s, but the deer eliminated them all (along with elderberries, raspberries, etc.).


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