Tuesday, August 12, 2008

bristly black currant





the flowering one June 7 2017


Ribes lacustre
Grossulariaceae, gooseberry family

ribes - acid tasting
lacustre- growing along ponds and lakes

The berry is very sticky and not my favorite to pick, but of its abundance and guaranteed good crop, it is a welcome addition to my harvest. It is to me not very tasty raw, But delicious as a juice. I made juice one year when the berries were covered with Fireweed fluff. Most years I make jam, which I mix with Black Currants and/or Raspberries and this year even Strawberries, which all grow in the Black Currant patch I pick.

On August 10 and 11 2008, we picked 4 litres of the above mix. Made delicious jam, using less then half white sugar, boiling it for at the most 10 min.

I call this a Gooseberry, i find it along roads and power lines. Semi-wet and semi-shaded.
At the end of August I made jam with just those berries. And it turned out very good, resembling black currant jam.

1 comment:

Alaska Diva said...

Wow! Thank you for the great photos. We have boatloads of R. hudsonianum in our backyard. They make the most complex flavored jellies and Cassis or Solbaerom liquers. I was cruising the net for info. on Rubus arcticus and look where I wound up!!

Another arctician like me.

Brooke Heppinstall
Palmer, Alaska
www.woolwood.com
www.dirtdivasgardening.com