FRUIT - Vegetable, Fruit and Herb Growing in Small Spaces - page 82

Lingonberries
I first came across lingonberries in Norway. In times gone by we would always have sweet
with meat but now that's limited to apple sauce with pork and possibly redcurrant jelly with
lamb. In Scandinavia, however, they still keep to that culinary tradition. We had stopped in a
service station and I had meatballs with chips, mushy peas and a big dollop of jam. I was a
little hesitant to say the least but the 'jam' was a lingonberry preserve and not only delicious
on its own but it went really well with the meatballs.
I asked my Norwegian friend how you grew them and he looked a little puzzled before ex-
plaining that you just picked them in the forest where they grow like a weed. Since we don't
have many forests, just grow them in exactly the same way as a cranberry, to which they are
related.
As you can imagine, being a sub-arctic plant, they're extremely hardy. Minus 40°C won't
harm them so don't worry about what our British winter can throw at them.
If you wish to propagate both lingonberries and cranberries, they're quite easy. In autumn
when the soil is still warm, remove from the pot or dig up and tease the roots apart, discarding
the woody central clump and re-potting sections of the younger root. Water in well and the
job is done.
Both cranberries and lingonberries are self-fertile so you don't need to concern yourself
with pollinating partners.
Blackcurrants
Blackcurrants are yet another fruit being lauded as a 'super-food' so you can excuse the need
for some unhealthy sugar to make the sour fruit palatable. Ninety-five per cent of the black-
berries grown commercially in the UK go to drink manufacturers and I must admit this is one
way I like mine. My method is a little different though: fill a jar with blackcurrants and top
up with brandy. After six months, mash the blackcurrants in the brandy and strain. A rather
nice Christmas liqueur.
A mature bush can produce 10 lb (4.5kg) of currants but they are self-fertile so you only
need one bush, unless you want a lot of blackcurrants that is. They're not commonly grown
as container plants but some of the more compact varieties will do well in containers. Ben
Sarek, Ben Gairn and Ben Connan are the best bets for pots. You will need a large half-barrel
size even with compact varieties to do well.
Blackcurrants are greedy plants. Use John Innes No. 3 compost and add a few ounces (60g)
of bonemeal along with some general purpose slow-release fertilizer and some water retain-
ing granules.
Normally you look to buy and plant in the winter, from November to March. Plant an inch
or two (5cm) deeper than they have been at the nursery, then firm the compost around the