Currant Expansion

Day 176: It's Spring. You can tell, because you're likely to find me out in the yard digging holes. This year, it's the Currant Expansion. I really had planned to move two sickly gooseberries to this location, but when I went to buy good soil to put in the pots, a pair of Red Currants followed me home. These are not to be confused with our native Red-Flowering Currant which has dusty blue berries. These are red-fruited, and make exceptionally good jam (assuming you ever have enough of them). Fresh off the vine, the translucent red berries are too sour for munching. Like most of my projects, the Currant Expansion turned into a bigger job than originally intended, but then, I still want to move those gooseberries (another fruit which is best as jam), or maybe put in two healthier new ones. I'll need to get another pair of big pots, though. I prefer to raise blueberries, tomatoes and such in pots sunk in the ground. By confining the roots, a stronger root mass develops. Soil moisture is easier to maintain in the containers and, if I ever decide to move them as I did the blueberries a couple of years ago, they can be shifted without particular damage to the roots.