The gardening thread

[gill216]

Can anyone tell me what to do with my blackcurrant bush? I have an abundance of blackcurrants, but the individual strings are ripening at different times (same string, some berries still green, others as black as they could possibly get.)

Do I pick the string? Do I pick the individual berries- or do I wait until next year when the bush will be 3 years old?

[Bunnylump]

Um, I wouldn't profess to be an expert, but you should find that the berries ripen really quickly once the first few have got going. I THINK they give off a kind of "vapour" like ripe fruit does in your fruit bowl, which encourages the rest to follow suit. And to be honest, if you're cooking them, the odd unripe one won't matter.

I USED to have blackcurrants, Boysenberries, strawberries etc and be all Earth Mother and make jam and preserved fruit. I USED to grow beetroots and pumpkins and make wine. Then I got ill and the whole lot went to pot. Now my garden is like a jungle and is full of brambles.

[gill216]

So do I pick all the strings and stick them in my fruit bowl to ripen or do I pick them and freeze them and cook them in pies because it won't matter?

I shall ask the raspberry question later I've got hundreds of them- all green at the moment.

Last year I grew one strawberry. Looks like I could be in for abour 20 from 6 plants this year

[LAT]

You wait until the raspberries ripen which will hopefully be the day before the meet. Then you pick them and bring them to me as I love raspberries.

My alpine strawberries are doing really well this year. A couple of years ago I had 2 plants. Now I seem to have about 8 or 9 dotted around the garden. And I can pick a small bowl of ripe fruit every 2 or 3 days.

[Bunnylump]

Like I say, I'm no expert. Do you think the black ones are in danger of falling off or shrivelling up? Because if they're not, I'd say the best thing would be to wait until most of them are ripe on each branch. It's much easier to take off a branch at a time and strip the currants off. That way you don't need to prune them later in the year, either.

[BassBloke]

Gill

I hope you have better luck with your Blackcurrants that I have had with my Cherries. Last year I left home in the morning with a Cherry tree brimming full with luuvverly ready to eat fruit. I got back that night and every single one was gone. The Blackbirds were looking very smug, fat, and lethargic.

I have since replanted my little cherry tree (out of a pot) against a south facing wall of the house. I have explained to the cats (all 3 of them) what thier duties entail during the day when I am out. What do I find? Blimmin pesky birds have started chomping the, as yet unripe, fruits and the cats have done nothing. I'm not impressed with them. At all.

ANYWAY: My question is; How early can I pick cherries, and how can I store them so that they have a reasonable chance of ripening off the tree?

Cheers. BB.

[Bunnylump]

Don't know the answer to that one. My mum has the same problem with her cherry tree (has had it for about 30 years and hasn't had a cherry yet), she also has the same problem with walnuts and squirrels.

[gill216]

I can answer this one. Cover them up with the cheapest net you can find but make sure its pegged down. Old net curtains, cheap gauze, garden netting if you want go posh.

[giraffe]

We ahd a cherry tree and I watched it like a hawk. As soon as the first bird pounced I picked the lot as it seemed to mean they were ripe, but just in case they weren't I put them in pies!

[Bunnylump]

I don't have a cherry tree, because I've seen what the starlings do to the laurel berries. It's actually quite funny to watch. They go and raid the tree just before bedtime, one (cherry sized) berry each, fly to my neighbour's roof, and sit all along the edge like a row of gargoyles, eat the berry and then poo all down her roof. Then they are happy and go to roost! I can't imagine what they'd make of decent fruit!!

[giraffe]

The problem with cherries is the bird poo is pink and stains!

[strep98]

According to my readers digest book
Blackcurrants Pick only when ripe this is a week or so after turning black. The fruit at the top of the cluster generally ripen first. Not too helpful that is all says.

[tricia]

You can make blackcurrent and apple pies, blackcurrent jam or Jellies. I used to love blackcurrent tart with custard Yummy.

[Laura]

My grandad used to grow raspberries and had the '2000 berries all at once problem'. He used to pick them, wash them, then line them up on a tray, freeze them flat, then put them in a box in the freezer and move onto the next lot. That way, they didn't stick together and you could take out of the box however many you wanted and defrost them. If you just put them in a box to freeze then they all stick together and you can only separate them once they've defrosted, which means you still get a whole load all together. He usually had enough to last just about all year!

[Biscuit]

love this thread
for the first year i am trying to grow strawberries in a tub thing - really excited as I can see the strawberries already - plus am trying tomatoes but need to feed them i think - I got inspired by a tom plant growing out of the front step at work where there is no earth - must have been from a disguarded sandwich and I got to thinking if they are that resiliant even I could grow them. Have taken the safety measure of inviting my mum and dad around for dinner every couple of weeks to check over the garden for me. Working brilliantly so far as OH makes sure the garden looks spick and span for the mother in law. lol.

[giraffe]

I have 22 home grown raspberries in the fridge! I have been picking 4 or 5 a day all week to stop the birds getting the ripe ones. Tomorrow I think I will eat them

[kathlyn]

I have 22 home grown raspberries in the fridge! I have been picking 4 or 5 a day all week to stop the birds getting the ripe ones. Tomorrow I think I will eat them

with plenty of cream I hope

[Biscuit]

brilliant - well done - may be I will try raspberries next year

[giraffe]

I bought about 8 canes last year and this year I must have 16. SO be careful where you plant them. Mine are in a raised bed surrounded by walls and I don't mind if they take over the whole bed as I love raspberries.

How do you tell when underground things like beetroot and parsnips are ready?

I have 11 small cucumbers on my plants. I can't believe how fast they are growing. About 4 days ago they were about an inch long and like little caterpillars. Now they are the size of my little finger.

[MBH]

I actually had a day in the garden yesterday - not my favourite passtime, but for some reason it was quite satisfying persuading the budlia to head in the right directions and make room for the small flowering plants between.

The strawberries in a pot that I guided the 'offshoots' back into the pot last year have come back again, and berries are starting to form.

With talk of raspberries - we don't grow them but they keep invading the garden through the fence from the field we live next to. I'm trying to train them to stay in the field, but within reach for fruit picking I'm not as green as I'm cabbage-looking (as my Mum used to say).

There is a small strip between the shed and the fence that was just wide enough to put two rows of carrots in. I've tried this before (many years ago) and got nowhere - but I think gardening is something you've got to show an interest in and actually get out and DO! Which is where I go wrong