When I was little, my Mom had a currant bush. I remember it being right near the trellis of grape vines. I seem to recall that she was frustrated about not ever getting very many currants from this little bush. I my memory, that is because the bush wasn't thriving and didn't produce many berries.
Now I have a current bush, and this is the first year that it's really produced more than a few berries, which I never got to pick because the chickens got to them first. This year it's loaded, and the chickens are locked up. Eating these tart little treats immediately brings back memories of my Mom's currant bush because I don't think I've even tasted them since then. The flavor was tucked back somewhere in my memory bank and the childhood memories flooded in as soon as I popped a ripe currant in my mouth. I was probably around 7 years old-- younger, older, I don't know.. The flavor brings to mind the warmth of the June days and the breezes and the smell of the air. I remember sitting there, under the grape vines with my brothers, scouring that bush for some tasty red nibbles.
This has all given me a little insight into what my Mom's real frustration with the currant bush may have been.
See, I'm pretty sure that I won't get to harvest enough currants to use for anything significant.
They're bright red and tempting and right at the eye-level of a curious toddler.
They don't all get ripe at once, and even when they start to turn red, they need a few days on the bush to get sweet. Evan doesn't care. He eats all he can reach, no matter what color they are.
They're disappearing faster than they can get good and ripe, and I found myself growing somewhat frustrated at not being able to pick my currants. Then I remembered my Mom's currant bush...
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Ha! Yep. I never made one single jar of jam from them. They're better fresh anyway. I imagine they are packed with all kinds of nutrients for your scavenger anyway.
ReplyDeleteOh I've always wanted a currant bush! They are so good for you! Not the bush, the fruit, anyway...Evan's going to have the best immune system around!
ReplyDeleteI'd totally forgotten the current bushes in the garden of my childhood home! We had those kind, and blackcurrent, and a gooseberry bush, too. Such good memories! Thank you for bringing them back for me.
ReplyDeleteWhen my children were younger, we lived in a nice residential area pretty close to downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). The yards were small, but ours came with a row of raspberry bushes along the fence!! I have a picture of my oldest (then 6) feeding raspberries off the bush to her brother (then 3). The story behind that picture?
She wasn't feeding him the *berries*. She was feeding him the leaves. She had told him the berries were poisonous to boys, that only girls could eat them, and the poor trusting mite believed her. (Would his beloved big sister *lie* to him???)
She was not entirely pleased when I told him the truth...
Hahaha! What a great story! The "clever" things that children think of...
DeleteMom has a current bush but it's pretty small....
ReplyDelete