[Hampshire Hog]

Hi all
My black currents are coming on well. So well that some of the currents look ready to harvest! Challenge is not all of the currents on a branch look ready but I had planned to prune and harvest at the same time. How should I approach this??
A) just harvest the individual currents that are ripe
B) Wait till all the currents are ripe ( but some are too ripe!)
C) harvest the branches whether currents fully ripe or not and discard the I ripe ones

Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this dilemma!!

Cheers HH

[Sparkyrog]

it's a simple equation !

number ready = A

number needed =B

when A =B then the rest don't matter

[compostqueen]

I harvest them as they're ready. I love getting right into the bush itself and sitting there on a hot day being dive bombed by blackbirds.  It was so hot on picking day last year that I was almost under the bush itself and it was interesting to see just how many birds were nicking my fruit    

I love blackcurrants and can hardly wait for cropping to start. Homemade jam is the business 

[brokenglass]

I use a berry comb which speeds up harvesting no end.   These are available on line and at some Hardware/Kitchen shops not expensive as they will last years

[Headgardener22]

I do A then B.

At first I pick them when they're ripe. (Because they're nice to eat fresh). Then when the other fruits are glutting, I leave them then pick the whole branches which prunes the plants at the same time.

[Hampshire Hog]

Thanks for all your comments looks like I need to get in amongst the black currant bushes.
Apologies for the typo too😳😳 black currents are probably some sort of dark electricity possibly found far far away in a black hole!!

Cheers HH

[Ema]

Mine in Dorset arnt ready! will need to be a few more weeks until there all ready and sweet enough to eat. Try one at the moment there probably disgusting.

[Growster...]

We're not going to net ours this year as it's such a hassle.

And we're doing what a local commercial grower does, just blitz them on a couple of days, where  in the past we've piddled about collecting just the ripe ones, and hurt our backs...

[Nobbie]

I find that you need to leave them a while after they go black before they are fully ripe. If you pick earlier they are not as sweet. I tend to pick them all in one go, so wait until they have almost all turned black except a few in the centre of the bush. That way most of them are fully ripe and full of sugar.

[Hampshire Hog]

Harvested a few today but looks like most need a bit longer on the bush

Thanks again HH