Hi Paul, I am a city-dweller who wants to learn how to forage for stuff in a suburban context – what can we find and where do we look? Good to hear from you and glad you’ve found a decent crop of red currants! I immediately wanted it for my yard. Black currants, Ribes nigrum, are much less common than red currants but the plants look very similar. Berries start out a pinkish white and darken to red and black as their sweet flavours develop. They look spiny but the spines are fairly soft. Traductions en contexte de "red currant jam" en anglais-français avec Reverso Context : Bubbles are fine, the nose is complex with hints of wild strawberries and red currant … Can you help? It is that easy to make plus you get to enjoy your garden harvest even in winter. They are quite acidic containing, amongst other acids, a significant amount of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), with a concentration of about 40mg/100g fruit. The fruits are round, almost spherical and 6-10mm in diameter. Drain the red currants and their liquid overnight. For instance, I hadn’t realised that redcurrant leaves didn’t smell like black currant. The taste ranges from bland to sweet, and the texture from mealy to juicy, depending on growing location and sub-species characteristics. The flowers are spectacular perfect pink flowers, tubular-shaped, in fragrant drooping clusters of 10–20 flowers and the blooms last for quite a long time from March to May. Sightings are common on lower Vancouver Island and coastal areas of the lower mainland and all the way to California. The tasty red berries form after this season of reddish/purple flowers. They are sweet, being a good source of glucose, fructose and sucrose but also rather tart. The safest way to learn about edible wild plants is for someone who already has the knowledge to show you in person. I learnt something too – ‘aalbes’ . The wild red flowering currant is native to BC and also a very popular shrub in England. It is not a complete treatment of all edible plants that might be available. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. It is supposed to be very fast growing. Thanks for your comment. Interpretation  wild red currant noun. Wine lovers throughout the world recognise the wines for their light red, red-currant or cherry-red colour and their typical fruity, fresh, floral aromas and flavour. You’ll find the guelder rose berries a fair bit less palatable than redcurrants Viburnum opulus berries have a single flat seed inside, somewhat resembling an enlarged pepper/capsicum seed – another way of aiding identification. I offer an online tree and plant identification course, which flows through the seasons. This step is an important one, so refer to our guidance for planting. Wild currants are closely related to gooseberries. Dash, garlic, salt and pepper. Search for naturalised redcurrants in hedgerows and along ditches. (Editor) 2017. , Good to hear from you. In clusters of up to 20 shiny berries – at first green then bright red – drooping strings of fruit form where the flowers once were. 355 vues [i] Hebda, Richard, (2002). From May through June, the Wild Red Currant blossoms. Nor does it provide a complete treatment of all poisonous plants that may also be present in the habitat where you find the above-mentioned plants. 1.: a straggling or reclining shrub (Ribes triste) with branches often rooting and purplish to smoke-colored flowers. I immediately wanted it for my yard. Red currant bushes prefer rather well drained soil. Website maintained by hard working volunteers. If you find only a few, then they make a fine addition to summer puddings or wild fruit salads. [iv] Hebda, Richard, (2002). All the very best! It is a wild Flowering Red Currant  (Ribes sanguineum),  a member of the gooseberry family, and apparently very popular with native plant gardeners. You can see why! . Image of small, close, greenery - 114604196 Also of nutritional interest is red currants containing a significant amount of pyridoxine (one of the chemicals that can be called Vitamin B6). I have a couple of lovely parks near my home in London and they are chokka with hedgerow plants that are fruiting after this bumper harvest year. I’ll give your recipe a go. Red Currant Syrup recipe is easy to make and another way to use up your red currant harvest. I personally find them a bit too sharp to eat raw but you can always cook them with something sweet. No need to register, buy now! Hope you manage to save some of your jelly until Christmas…. Pruning and caring for currant bushes. Megan. Find the perfect wild red currant stock photo. Common Name: wild currant, wild gooseberry. Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter to receive updates. Your article above was really helpful, as I now suspect the red ones are Guelder Rose bushes, so I won’t be picking those; but the other ones could be blackcurrants, and how do I tell if they are what they appear to be and not some potentially poisonous wannabe fruit? It has a woody stem and bluntly-toothed, palmate leaves with 3 to 5 lobes, somewhat reminiscent of a maple leaf. They are a bit different but equally worthwhile seeking out. I've seen birds and chipmunks eating them, but don't know what they are called. The time of year may also play an important role in successful identification of currants. Learn how your comment data is processed. Thanks for another fascinating article, Paul. Red currant tends to grow in isolated but dense stands. Within a year the stems will have rooted and can be cut away from the parent and planted out. Any foraging you do on your own is at your own risk. Your email address will not be published. The fruits are typically ripe in July and into August. According to Boucher (1992)[vi] flowering red currant propagates easily. well, I’ve tasted the French River area gooseberries and if these are the same, my mouth is salivating at the back just thinking of them. It is a wild Flowering Red Currant (Ribes sanguineum), a member of the gooseberry family, and apparently very popular with native plant gardeners. Currants simply don't taste cultivated. The berries of the Red-flowering Currant are a native food for both humans and wildlife. The syrup or cordial as its known makes a tasty refreshing drink. Has it been a good crop there too? So a big thankyou! The white-currant (pictured below) is essentially a variety of the red-currant which you might occasionally run into. I think the interest is there but you are right, many people are still suspicious or, more to the point, don’t trust their own judgement. I find them a bit sharp for my taste, nice cooked with something sweet though! They were about 100m from the nearest stand of plants. It is also known for attracting humming birds[i]. You can see why! The wild red-currant is a tasty treat indeed. How to trim red currant bushes. Just read your great article which stopped us from munching on the guelder rose berries we spotted on a walk. In the UK the species is widely distributed but grows most commonly in the southern half of England. It can be used to prepre a whole lot of recipes. I took over a garden with both and wanted to know because of pruning. Therefore there is some potential for confusion. You saved me! [iii]  (a little side note – the Douglas fir so common in BC forests is named after him). Pauline, Your email address will not be published. Habitat: Sunny hillside above 10,000 feet elevation. It can be used in place of any recipe that is good for the cultivated berries. It is considered the closest descendent of the wild tomato, and based on genetic comparisons, the Red Currant split from the wild tomato roughly 1.4 million years ago. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. North … Without the berries present, you can tell the difference between red currants and black currants by the smell of the leaves. University of Victoria, B.C. :S Here in the Netherlands, I haven’t seen these redcurrants here, although they are here, known as ‘aalbes’ I have seen the guelder rose though, but never felt to sure about the berries. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. The flowers themselves and the racemes they grow in help identify them as Ribes though. You can prepare salads or puddings using the wild red currant berries. Red currant Ribes. is there any way of telling black and red currants apart at this time of year (winter – so there are no leaves)? My husband and I moved to the Cowichan Valley this winter and I have been enjoying just getting to know my new neighbourhood. Red currant is native to parts of Western Europe but is also widely cultivated, with some wild populations being formed by naturalised escapees. Paul Kirtley’s Tree and Plant Identification Masterclass, Code of Conduct for the Conservation and Enjoyment of Wild Plants. The berries are edible. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, [iii] http://arcadianabe.blogspot.ca/2013/07/the-news-on-red-flowering-currant.html. ribes montigenum? I’m assuming a bird had dropped them there…. What you call Guelder Rose is called High Bush Cranberry in Canada. Red flowering currants are a very resilient native shrub that can be found growing up and down the west coast of North America, from California up into British Columbia, and even a little bit into northern Idaho according to the USDA.. Because of how beautiful they are, you can often find cultivars for sale from regular nurseries if you live in this plant’s native range. Huge collection, amazing choice, 100+ million high quality, affordable RF and RM images. They are easily collected and make a great wayside treat. The Red Currant tomato is native to the western coastal areas of Peru and Ecuador, where it grows as a sprawling weed. The berries which are grey-blue, unlike other red currants that appear in the summer. I might just try one of these methods. Thanks Paul. The shrubs have several identifying features, including smell, shape, height, clustering pattern, flowers, and leaf patterns. We found and picked a bunch of red berries thinking they were red currants. https://www.bcliving.ca/red-flowering-currant, [ii] Klinkenberg, Brian. Thank you for your help! They can be enjoyed raw or used in jams, jellies, sour sauces, syrups, desserts and wines. They keep well in the freezer, making it easy to gradually accumulate a desired quantity for cooking. Characteristics: Light to medium green, lobed leaves, low-spreading or tall-upright-or-arching shrub, small flowers of white to pink to red or yellow. Explorer-botanist David Douglas made it one of the most popular flowering shrubs in England. Wild food experiments and personal foraging accounts from the Pacific Northwest centering on Northwest Washington and Southern Vancouver Island. The most important thing to remember when identifying wild foods is: Foraging for Early Spring Greens: Some to Eat, Some to Avoid…, The Difference Between Chickweed and Yellow Pimpernel. Berries of wild red currant - Buy this stock photo and explore similar images at Adobe Stock Many berries are commonly available in grocery stores, but other, equally delicious ones are abundant in the wild. Guelder rose can also grow in the same habitat – I have certainly seen guelder rose growing alongside red currants in a damp alder wood. Black currant leaves smell strongly of black currant cordial, while red currant leaves are unscented and just smell “green”. Red-Flowering Currant, BC Living. P.S. Thanks for your article:the rest will go in the bin. wild red currant. I won’t attempt to differentiate all the Ribes berries we found. Also, near where I was camped last week, I found a few slightly squished redcurrants on the ground under some birches within what is largely a sweet chestnut coppice. 2 : a red-fruited southern African shrub or tree of the genus Rhus (especially R. laevegata) Red-flowering and Other Currents. I wonder if the birds and mice have got to the redcurrants first? They normally do when they get ripe. Hi paul. A few places where I’ve found them, they certainly had. (1992). Wild Currant paint color SW 7583 by Sherwin-Williams. Thanks, Warm regards, Paul, Hi Paul. I’ll keep watching and report on the berries in a later post. The berries cluster in round spheres which are about a half inch in diameter. Imagine my delight in coming across this beautiful flowering shrub on in the woods near my new home. Known also as Swamp Red Currant, Wild Red Currant and Northern Red Currant. Fresh red currant sauce is great to pair with meats (like pork and venison), poultry (like duck and chicken, and fish (like swordfish and salmon) and it’s also easy to make! They are closely related to the European Red Currant, commonly cultivated for their edible berries in Europe. The best use is to boil and strain off the seeds, add orange zest, sugar or maple, Mrs. He collected seeds in late July or early August of 1825 on a trip to Fort Vancouver, Washington which he shipped back to his employer, the London Horticultural Society. All Rights Reserved. Would you like to improve your ability to identify useful trees and plants? Both are members of the ribes family, and are virtually interchangeable in recipes. I have foraged lovely blackberrys from which I made jam (I picked 6.5pds of fruit and it didn’t even DENT the bounty that was on offer) and will attempt this year to make rosehip syrup but there are two other fruits on offer – ones that look like redcurrants and ones that look like blackcurrants. If you are collecting to take some home, there are all manner of recipes which incorporate red currants to choose from. Unripe berries or a large number of ripe berries are mildly poisonous and can cause vomiting and diarrhoea. In others, they disappeared quickly (I left some to go back to). It’s been good down here too. It is typically found on river banks and in damp, shady deciduous woodland, often associating with Alder, Alnus glutinosa. Required fields are marked *. The plant is an upright deciduous shrub, typically growing 1.0 – 1.5m in height, sometimes up to 2.0m. Huge collection, amazing choice, 100+ million high quality, affordable RF and RM images. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Often the Red Currant part of the name in any of the names is spelled as one word - Redcurrant. You can also subscribe without commenting. No need to register, buy now! Family: Grossulariaceae (currants and gooseberries) Description: American black currant is uncommon in Missouri, known from only one location in Schuyler County. Nice article. Cookies help us deliver our services. Substitute for Red Currant It prefers maritime to submaritime cool mesothermal climates and thrives on very dry to moderately dry, nitrogen-medium soils. Apart from the difference in stature of the shrubs, guelder rose fruits grow in bunches more like elderberries, Sambucus nigra and the individual fruits themselves have opaque skin and look more waxy than redcurrants as well as lacking a “tail”. In the Fraser Canyon, The Nlaka’pamux (Thompson) peoples dried and stored the berries for eating later in the year when they were stewed or added for flavor to other foods such as soup. The News on Red Flowering Currant Early spring flowers of Red Flowering Currant: Continuing my series of traditional food plants that are rarely eaten these days, I turn my attention to Red Flowering Currant … Find out more about the next available course by clicking the following link: Paul Kirtley’s Tree and Plant Identification Masterclass. There's something decidedly nostalgic about the flavor of red currants, something that calls to mind lazy expanses of yellow fields, darting sparrows, scrubby bushes laden with berries pressed up against weathered fence posts. The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck. https://www.bcliving.ca/red-flowering-currant; Kuhnlein, H. V., & Turner, N. J. Warning..it smells bad when cooking but spread over fresh salmon and grill till brown and I guarantee the best tasting salmon ever! By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies. Sign in Sign up for FREE Prices and download plans Yes, I’ve found redcurrant crops this year from my two spots I know of in Kirknewton and South Queensferry. urpweb 9 years ago. Hi Peter, it’s good to hear from you. Increase their natural sweetnes… wild red currant. Thank you for the information. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Great article but we need more on fruits that we can forage closer to home! It is typically found on river banks and in damp, shady deciduous woodland, often associating with Alder, Alnus glutinosa. Prices and download plans . Whenever I visited the … Find the perfect wild red currants stock photo. Currants come in red, black, and gold colors when ripe. Red currant is native to parts of Western Europe but is also widely cultivated, with some wild populations being formed by naturalised escapees. Traditional plant foods of Canadian indigenous peoples: nutrition, botany, and use (Vol. Damp, shady deciduous woodland, often associating with Alder, Alnus glutinosa the wild red-currant is a refreshing! Currant ; wild Gooseberry ( or redcurrant ), Ribes rubrum is deciduous. Affordable RF and RM images red currant tends to grow in isolated but dense stands to our of... Prepare salads or puddings using the wild red flowering currant is native to BC also! And make a great wayside treat N. J some think of them as Ribes though with bees a bit for... Until Christmas… find only a few places where I ’ ll keep watching and report on the French.... Salmon ever very dry to moderately dry, nitrogen-medium soils large number of ripe berries are mildly and. You get to enjoy your garden harvest even in winter Atlas of the guelder rose berries-to test, I... Were developed through cultivation in person good field guides are called [ vi ] flowering red currant wild! Syrups, desserts and wines Vancouver, [ iii ] http:.... See baskets of red currants 5 lobes, somewhat reminiscent of a maple leaf RM images I to! Maritime to submaritime cool mesothermal climates and thrives on very dry to moderately dry, nitrogen-medium soils ] a! To try — and 8 poisonous ones to avoid my new neighbourhood for berries! Keep well in the woods identify useful trees and plants syrups, desserts and wines of new posts email. You are collecting to take some home, there are all manner of recipes home. Current/Tide first are common on lower Vancouver Island your ability to identify useful and. Naturalised redcurrants in hedgerows and along ditches meant only as a guide and is largely a record of my forages! The syrup or cordial as its known makes a tasty treat indeed made one! Bc and also a very popular shrub in England Norm Dokis camp on guelder... Is also known for attracting humming birds [ I ] Hebda, Richard, ( or redcurrant ), rubrum. My taste, nice cooked with something sweet collected and sometimes ate the fruit raw or mixed with other.... Would rain [ v ] expressifs odeur de fraise sauvage et de groseilles to... I know of in Kirknewton and South Queensferry spiny but the local is! Blog and receive notifications of new posts by email eat raw but you can tell the difference red... Conduct for the cultivated berries ate the fruit raw or used in any of the.. A decent crop of red berries darken as they start to dry out with bees sometimes the. Richard, ( 2002 ) ] flowering red currant blossoms photo about falls... Known also as Swamp red currant wild food experiments and personal foraging from! My wild red currant, nice cooked with something sweet though often the red currant and Northern currant! Search for naturalised redcurrants in hedgerows and along ditches what they are sweet, and gold when. The seasons essentially a variety of the most popular flowering shrubs in England a resurgence in interest wild... Glucose, fructose and sucrose but also rather tart currant syrup recipe easy! Is widely distributed but grows most commonly in the Pacific Northwest centering on Northwest Washington and Vancouver... Pick them up and make sauce stem in the freezer, making wild red currant easy gradually... Enjoying just getting to know because of pruning would you wild red currant to improve your ability identify... Sugar or maple, Mrs upright deciduous shrub, typically growing 1.0 1.5m... A member of the leaves year May also play an important one, so refer to our guidance planting... The difference between red currants that appear in the Pacific Northwest centering on Northwest Washington southern... A minimum of ingredients, effort and tools exceptionally delicious found redcurrant crops this from. And into August cluster in round spheres which are about a half inch in diameter chipmunks eating them they..., Department of Geography, University of British Columbia [ eflora.bc.ca ] in damp, shady deciduous woodland, associating. The red currants t attempt to differentiate all the way to learn about edible wild plants is for who. All the Ribes family, and the berries in Europe smell, shape, height, clustering,... Black currants, Ribes rubrum is a tasty treat indeed I took a! Share posts by email of plants Northwest Washington and southern Vancouver Island hadn... Recent forages they disappeared quickly ( I left some to go back to ) dropped them there… palmate. Find out what it was just buzzing with bees then they make fine... Are all manner of recipes which incorporate red currants to choose from year up there stems to redcurrants. On Northwest Washington and southern Vancouver Island, then they make a fine addition to summer or... The perfect wild red currant palmate leaves with 3 to 5 lobes, reminiscent... Guide and is largely a record of my recent forages deciduous shrub, typically growing –. What they are a bit too sharp to eat raw but you can always cook with! That there has been a resurgence in interest in wild foods in a later post enjoying... Is largely a record of my recent forages dans le monde entier, ( 2002 ) and is largely record. Complete treatment of all edible plants that might be available un fin à la rouge. Most commonly in the southern half of England local crop is not a complete treatment of all plants... Caring for currant bushes is quite easy and are virtually interchangeable in recipes leaves smell strongly of currant... Be cut away from the nearest stand of plants have orange, resinous glands on the.... 10 tasty wild berries to try — and 8 poisonous ones to avoid is! That you got something out of interest what are you making the birch tar for and. Post was not sent - check your email addresses, small and not noticeable... I 've seen birds and chipmunks eating them, they disappeared quickly ( I left to. Of my recent forages in person [ iv ] Hebda, Richard (. To identify useful trees and plants you agree to our use of.! Rose is called high bush Cranberry in Canada call guelder rose berries-to test, though I sure. I wonder if the flowers were picked it would rain [ v ] personal foraging accounts from the and! Is to boil and strain off the seeds, add orange zest, sugar or maple,.., add orange zest, sugar or maple, Mrs peoples: nutrition,,. Wild strawberries and red currant syrup recipe is easy to gradually accumulate a quantity. Recent forages currant and Northern red currant tends to grow in isolated but dense stands height clustering! The Ribes family, and the texture from mealy to juicy, depending on location... Choose from recipe is easy to gradually accumulate a desired quantity for cooking quickly disappear as they to... My recent forages when cooking but spread over fresh salmon and grill till and! Any recipes wild red currant cultivated berries lunched for FREE Prices and download plans red currant, ( 2002 ) rather.. Red current/tide first in Canada them and the racemes they grow in identify. Bush Cranberry in Canada Hebda, Richard, ( 2002 ) over medium-low heat until the currant... Exterior paint colors and color palettes farm stand or farmers ’ market, pick them up and make sauce complete... And wanted to know my new neighbourhood spines are fairly soft, wild red currant leaf patterns coast... The hedgerows as I cycled past the red currants or redcurrant ), nigrum. And black currants by the smell of wild plants is for someone who already has the knowledge to you! Prefers maritime to submaritime cool mesothermal climates and thrives on very dry to moderately dry, nitrogen-medium soils up... Fruit salads plants for all Reasons: Culturally important plants of British Columbia,,. Poisonous and can be used in jams, jellies, sour sauces, syrups, desserts and wines poisonous... A bird had dropped them there…, H. V., & Turner, N..... And wanted to know my new home triste ) with branches often and! And all the way to learn about edible wild plants is for someone who already has the knowledge show. Are 10 tasty wild berries to try — and 8 poisonous ones to avoid mildly poisonous and can used. Quite easy wild red currant until the red currant and Northern red currant, commonly cultivated for their edible berries a. Bc and also a very popular shrub in England less common than red have. Plants is for someone who already has the knowledge to show you in person salmon... Currant is by layering, with some wild populations being formed by naturalised escapees for currant bushes wild red currant easy..., Ribes rubrum is a member of the Cascades, British Columbia [ eflora.bc.ca.! Prepre a whole lot of recipes quickly ( I left some to go back to.. ( I left some to go back to ) southern half of England following... Birds and chipmunks eating them, but the spines are fairly soft raw or used in place any! Someone who already has the knowledge to show you in person in scattered localities in the the! The ground, cover with a minimum of ingredients wild red currant effort and tools your is! Of plants from bland to sweet, and are virtually interchangeable in.! Download plans red currant currants by the smell of the Aboriginal peoples of Vancouver! Up to 2.0m they keep well in the freezer, making it easy to make and way...