[Shannon in ATL]

Birchie - no 3FC email here. At least not yet.

[neurodoc]

I've never seen blackcurrants in the U.S. but I see redcurrants in upscale supermarkets from time to time. I also never see gooseberries (another member of the currant family) which I am more fond of than either of the preceding. My grandmother grew both redcurrants and gooseberries at her summer cottage outside of Budapest, and I used to pick and eat them every summer when I went to visit. My sense is that they are rather fragile and don't transport well, can't be picked green and force-ripened, and are prone to blight. All in all, I prefer raspberries.

Thanks for the China well-wishes. Can't believe that departure is now a week away.
Michelle, Joshua will be going to NYU (we have many friends in NYC and my parents live 20 minutes from the George Washington Bridge).

[saef]

I see gooseberries, red currants and black currants at farmers' markets occasionally. I see Chinese gooseberries more often on carts of food vendors on the streets below Canal Street. Of the first trio, it's black currants that are the rarest. I've never eaten one fresh, only dried or in black currant tea.

[silverbirch]

Thanks for all the blackcurrant information. And about the other soft fruit. So interesting. It seems as thought the link with timber disease in the 18th/19th centuries was based on incomplete scientific understanding. So you've been missing out without good reason for many, many years!

They are all quite tart, especially compared with rasps, strawbs and blueberries.

You will love blackcurrants if you can find them. I've just had some for breakfast as part of the summer fruit mixture I have with muesli. They're so astoundingly full of vitamins and minerals, especially compared with blueberries which I've been led to believe are *the* most healthy berries. In fact, I can't understand why blueberries are thought to be so good, looking at their nutritional value. Is there a big blueberry industry, perhaps??

Redcurrants are good to go with venison and other strong meat. Perhaps you use cranberries for this. Whitecurrants are also lovely.

Gooseberries are wonderful, especially the lovely large reddish dessert ones you just pick straight from the bush. The small hard green ones are very good in a sauce for oily fish, like mackerel. (In fact, that's their French name - groseilles à maquereaux.) In Britain, babies are traditionally found under the gooseberry bush which would be in any self-respecting garden, just as in Andrea's grandmother's. That's a lovely memory to have, Andrea.

Bit of a splurge, there. I'm writing quite a lot about gardening at the moment and am working in my own quite hard.

Have a good day, everyone.

[Mudpie]

There was an Estonian couple who grew gooseberries and red currants and white currants in their yard. We kids would pass by 4 times a day while going to and from school. I heard them speaking Estonian to each other and I greeted them in same as I'd never heard the language outside my family and their friends.

I got to chatting with them a bit and saying hello each time they were outside when I passed by. They invited me several times to pick some berries and take them home. My dad was thrilled - he loved gooseberries. My mom liked the currants - they were pretty tart and that was her favorite taste.

I also remember picking currants and gooseberries at the cottage of someone close by our summer camp. Their daughter and I were "camp buddies" and we would go over all the time.

Never black currants though - just red and white. Interesting "food for thought" if we retire to where we want to go. It's a prime fruit growing area in Ontario. I'm intrigued with the possibility of growing my own berries and apricots.

Dagmar

[silverbirch]

Originally Posted by Mudpie

Never black currants though - just red and white. Interesting "food for thought" if we retire to where we want to go. It's a prime fruit growing area in Ontario. I'm intrigued with the possibility of growing my own berries and apricots.

Dagmar

Oh, go for it, Dagmar. Apricots would be a challenge for me here unless I had a walled garden with a lovely warm brick wall.

[Mudpie]

Originally Posted by silverbirch

Oh, go for it, Dagmar. Apricots would be a challenge for me here unless I had a walled garden with a lovely warm brick wall.

Someone living beside a nearby park has an apricot tree in their yard. Part of the tree overhangs the park. I happened to be walking Trixie there one afternoon and grabbed a bunch of the apricots that had fallen into the park. I washed them when I got home and ate them still warm from the sun. Amazing!

I'm going to start lurking in the vicinity of that tree at the beginning of August this year.

We have many fruit trees in our neighbourhood. There is a yard with a plum and a peach tree in it. I walked past there very hopefully last year but most of the fruit falls into the yard and the remainder gets chewed up by passing cars. SIGH. Can't remember the last time I ate a properly ripe peach.

Dagmar

[HowlinAtTheMoon]

An almond orchard just went in right next to us. They've been planting the trees for the past two nights. I was actually hoping for pistachios, but the almonds will have pretty blossoms. It will be several years before they are large enough to harvest. Not looking forward to that - they shake the trees and produce massive clouds of dust We can wear dust masks but the animals can't.

There are lots of wild gooseberries in the mountains but I haven't seen currants. I'd love to grow some but they may not like the California heat.

I had my first of four chemo treatments yesterday. Everything went fine. They give you anti-nausea in the drip. I had a knot in my stomach until bedtime but no nausea. I feel better today. I am planning for at least 10K steps and I did a 30 minute easy weight workout this morning. Hair loss will start in 2-3 weeks. I hope it lasts until my job is over last week of June. But I got two short wigs and some other head coverings for hiking.

I can't tell my true weight because of the steroids and all the IV drip. I'm up 3 pounds from yesterday according to the scale, to 124. Since I was sick a few weeks ago I've been trying to get my weight back up to 123. First time I've ever wanted to gain!

[traveling michele]

Alice,
I'll be thinking of you and hoping your side effects are minimal. Take care of yourself!

[JayEll]

What an awful day this is.

[Shannon in ATL]

Originally Posted by JayEll

What an awful day this is.

I'm heartbroken. Have been all day. I can't stop reading updates and have been fighting tears all day.