Word seems to have gotten out about me. I got a phone call over the weekend here at Struan Farm from a local lady I didn't know, alerting me that a section in town behind her house was being redeveloped, and quite a few lovely red currant bushes were being pulled out and tossed. Would I like to come and take them to get them to new homes?
Of course you will know what I said. I hate to see fruit go to waste, and that would include fruit trees, heirloom/heritage or not. And so I went over to meet this lovely lady on Sunday after after she returned from church to dig up some up. John's parents grew them and had quite a few bushes with the raspberries, his mum Rosemary made red currant jam. These were planted by her family at the turn of the century, so I've called them "Gaynor's Piopio Heritage Red Currants."
They are very healthy if tart, with heaps of Vitamin C, and are coming back into vogue currently. Upon returning home I potted up rooted cuttings into pots with good soil that I'll offer out to the community via the Piopio Community stand and the Piopio Heritage Fruit Tree project.
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