Growing gooseberries, growing currents, and cultivating jostaberries may be an easy to make money by selling to a local restaurant or making value-added products like jam.
For many years, I had a small backyard farm and nursery on about 1/3 acre. I was easily able to manage this with my full-time job, and I supplemented that income by earning, on average, $20,000 per year from berries and plants (after the plants were mature). A major part of my plantings were Ribes, a genus of plants that includes gooseberry, currant, and jostaberry. While results may vary, Ribes are easy to grow and are a great niche crop for the backyard farm.
Of course, when growing Ribes, it isn’t enough to say, “I want to grow gooseberries, currants, or jostaberries.” Like most fruits and berries, Ribes come in a variety of cultivars, with different plant and berry sizes, growing habits, and vigor. The market for fresh Ribes varies depending on your area, though generally, like most berries, they’re in high demand. I’ve sold to upscale restaurants, small produce markets, and individuals. Red currants, especially, can be sold to chefs to use as a garnish. The market for value-added products, especially jam, is excellent. Availability of gooseberry and red currant jam and jelly is limited, and these fruits make excellent jams. I’ve also sold to an upscale ice cream place, a cidery, and small breweries.
Growing Gooseberries
Gooseberry varieties vary considerably regarding plant size and growth habit, vigor, thorniness, and berry size and flavor. Trial as many varieties as possible and, after a year or two, gauge which do best in your growing conditions and are most suitable for your intended market. Gooseberry varieties also differ in their ease of propagation, so if your intention is to propagate plants, keep this in mind.
If your emphasis is on selling fresh at the market, consider a cultivar with a larger berry, such as ‘Tixia’ or ‘Hinnomaki Red.’ ‘Tixia’ is also semi-thornless and somewhat erect, so therefore relatively easy to harvest. (However, ‘Tixia’ isn’t easy to propagate from cuttings.) For processing (jams or beers), you can get by with a somewhat smaller berry. I’ve had good experience with ‘Captivator Red,’ an erect, productive plant with good vigor and a smaller (and a little sweeter) berry than ‘Hinnomaki Red.’ Now, my experience in New Jersey may be different from your experience, so don’t shy away from trialing a number of cultivars.
Growing Currants
Currants come in black, red, pink, and white cultivars. I don’t have much experience with black currants because they’re not permitted in New Jersey since they’re a host for the white pine blister rust. That said, much of my advice on the other Ribes, and especially jostaberries, holds for black currants.
Red currants are the most attractive of the currant family. The strigs (the proper name for the fruiting raceme) look like strings of shiny red pearls. They also have the most pronounced flavor of the white, pink, and red currants and are the most tart. Pink and white currants are sweeter but not as decorative. Black currants are a whole different story. They have a distinctive taste and are borne on short-stemmed clusters.
Growing Jostaberries
Jostaberries are a cross between gooseberries and black currants and have characteristics of both. Truthfully, I never found a good market for these berries, and they’re also not terribly productive (though they’re vigorous growers). There’s a demand for plants from people who can’t grow black currants but want a similar berry, or people who just like growing unusual fruits.
Propagating Ribes
Prune all Ribes for consistently high yields. Instead of throwing away that plant material, turn it into extra income. Ribes are generally easy to root, and it’s easy to create new plants. There’s a high demand for berry plants, and you usually won’t have much competition from other growers. I’ve found that annual plant sales are good markets for plants. Online marketplaces are also useful.
Red, pink, white, and black currant cuttings root easily, as do jostaberry cuttings. I’ve had success with both soft (taken in midsummer) and hard (dormant) cuttings taken in late fall. Soft cuttings need a bit more pampering; keep them in a lightly shaded area and consistently moist. Hard, or dormant, cuttings are less fussy.
I usually take a bunch of cuttings and put them in a pot with light potting soil. If they’re dormant cuttings, I keep them in a shady or low-light area for a while, but once the weather turns cold and they’re fully dormant, I just leave them outside and wait until spring. Once the weather begins to warm up, you’ll see top growth emerge. This is a good sign that roots are starting to grow, and when the growth is a couple of inches long, dump out the cuttings. Whatever has roots can be potted into its own small pot, and the rest can be returned to their original pots. Once the cuttings are potted individually, keep them in a low-light area and moist until they become more established.
I’ve found gooseberries to be variable in their ease of propagation. Of the popular cultivars, ‘Hinnomaki Red’ and ‘Captivator Red’ are easy to root and vigorous, so you can have a nice plant to sell after only a year.
– Michael Brown
Best Plants for Raised-Bed Gardening
What are the best plants to grow in a raised bed?
Vegetables that do well in raised beds include tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, summer squash, bush varieties of peas and beans, all types of greens, potatoes, onions, and garlic. In fact, in some locations, if you start early enough in spring, it’s possible to get two vegetable crops from one raised bed.
Crops that can be planted in early spring and harvested in early summer include onions, peas, greens, and other cold-tolerant crops. These early crops can then be replaced with summer squash (yellow or zucchini), eggplant, cucumbers, or green beans, which will start fruiting in late summer.
Tomatoes and peppers are generally planted in spring after the last frost, begin fruiting in midsummer, and will last until fall’s first frost, so they’ll be in the beds for the entire season.
While herbs and flowering annuals will also thrive in raised beds, you must be cautious, because they’ll self-seed in the beds. The trick here is to dead-head, or cut off dead flowers before they drop seeds. Some aromatic herbs to consider are basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. While dill is also a nice pick for its savory green leaves, you must be especially careful to dead-head, as they’re prolific seeders.
You have many annual flowers to consider, but some of my favorites – for their lively colors and long duration – are marigolds and zinnias.
Factors to consider with placement of your raised bed are full sun exposure and access to a watering hose, as well as putting the bed in a location where you can sit back, relax, and watch your plants after you’ve taken care of them. Full sun is important for the vegetables, as they need the sun’s energy to thrive. Having easy access to a watering hose will make it more enjoyable to water the plants, as opposed to the alternative of using a watering can. If you’re thinking of putting in more than one raised bed, make sure they have at least 3 feet between them as a walkway.
After planting, check up on how things are growing nearly every day. With care and attention, you’ll have vegetables, herbs, or flowers to share with friends and family, and a raised bed to enjoy backyard gardening for many seasons to come.
– Andrew Morrison, Penn State Extension Master Gardener
