The US War on Currants and Gooseberries
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Marvin Pitts, a professor of horticulture at Cornell University, estimates that 99.9% of Americans have never tasted a blackcurrant. The reason? For nearly...

I remember my Grandmother having Gooseberry in her garden and joking that they would get her in more trouble than the still she ran on her property.

    • joelslaw@lemmy.world
      331·
      1 年前

      TLDW: A fungus called “white pine blister rust” can only pollinate in the presence of white pine trees and “ribes” (pronounced rye-bees), which is what currants and gooseberries are. The lumber was deemed far more valuable so in order to save it from the spread of the fungus, cultivation of ribes was outlawed and the US Government enacted a large scale eradication.

      • SomeoneElse@lemmy.world
        91·
        1 年前

        Thank you. And TIL why ribeana is called ribeana.

        It seems mad to me that the US essentially banned a food group so they could make money by cutting down trees. Why didn’t they follow the lead of Europe and just focus on reforestation and breading genetically immune pine trees?

      • Foreigner@kbin.social
        6·
        1 年前

        So that’s why it’s called Ribena! Ribena is a blackcurrant juice that’s commonly sold in the UK.

  • Oppawaifu@vlemmy.net
    19·
    1 年前

    I grew up in the USA and my parents had to go to Canada to get Ribena (Black Currant syurp) for me as a baby because that was the only thing I drank

  • yads@lemmy.ca
    15·
    1 年前

    In Canada, we have gooseberries in our yard. Currants are also delicious.

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.net
    14·
    1 年前

    I haven’t had gooseberry yet, but I get black currant all the time. I haven’t had rhubarb either, but having learned it’s supposed to be sour as hell, I wanna try it. I fuckin’ love sour stuff.

    I can try the gooseberry in a pie, since they sell gooseberry pies at the bakery in the grocery store across the street. No one out here has rhubarb, tho. Not even Sprouts. :(

    • Deelala0516@reddthat.com
      13·
      1 年前

      Rhubarb was basically a weed around where I grew up. Yes, sour as hell but delicious! Sweeten it up and turn it into a sauce or pie - to die for. I’ve seen it in the store around here, but never get it cuz it’s crazy expensive. You should definitely try it if you get the chance.

      • theragu40@lemmy.world
        4·
        1 年前

        I’m from the Midwest and it’s pretty crazy to read that rhubarb is expensive lol. Everyone in my family has at least one plant and people are always happy to give you a cutting if you want more. They grow easily and are hard to kill even if you try to do it.

      • spookex@lemmy.world
        2·
        1 年前

        Peel the rhubarb and dip it in a bit of sugar.

        That + eating a bunch of other berries brings back the memories from visiting the relatives in the countryside in summer

  • metostopholes@lemmy.world
    12·
    1 年前

    From the US. The first time I tried jelly babies, the black currant flavored ones blew me away. I’ve had the real thing now as well (in jam form), and it’s so so good.

  • Jay@lemmy.world
    6·
    1 年前

    here in Canada I know of a few spots nearby these are growing, just north of the states border. Crazy to think if they were growing just a few miles south of where they are, they’d be on a hit list.

  • Hippiemcgee@kbin.social
    51·
    1 年前

    Whoah! I just today got my first ever gooseberry off the bushes I planted last year and then saw this a couple hours later. I feel special.

  • MxM111@kbin.social
    3·
    1 年前

    In NJ, you have to get a permit to grow black current even in your backyard. Only 4 varieties allowed. Red current and gooseberry can be grown without restrictions. So, I have gooseberry, but birds like it too…