Thursday, June 30, 2011

Here we go round the Mulberry bush...

It's that time of year...
The berries come.  
We used to think they were just garbage trees...

the birds loved them and showed it upon our cars and mailbox.
But after some research we found that they are in fact...
MULBERRIES
Crunchy and sweet.
Juicy and rare.
You can't just go to the store and buy them.
You have to fight off birds and pull on branches.
Foraging in empty lots and in the brush barriers between suburban homes.
But the rewards are great.

We have three (a fourth is about a year from fruiting) such trees on our property.  
None were planted, and that's the way the Mulberry likes it.
The birds do the dirty work (on the cars and mailboxes of the neighborhood.)
and the mulberries spread.
On the fringes, in the neglected areas, they pop up quickly and with strength and determination.
Tenacious as any of the traditional berry bushes are, but with the glory of a tree.
What have you foraged for lately?

11 comments:

  1. In the old days they planted mulberry trees next to the chicken coop and run to shade the chooks and give them a bit of a snack. I remember my grandparents had 3 trees next to their chicken coop.

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  2. That's funny because two of the trees are right next to our coop...not so random after all!

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  3. Its winter here now, but last spring we harvested mulberries and made them into jam. Yum! Yours look really juicy.

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  4. My husband has made such a suggestion...I can only imagine him going into the lunchroom at work with a peanut butter and mulberry sandwich! Just the idea of it makes me want to make it.

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  5. I wish I was foraging for mulberries, that's for sure. I used to see them a lot as a kid, but hardly ever now. A mulberry pie with a thick lemon pastry...oh yum.

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  6. And you would probably have the perfect recipe for it too!

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  7. Wow berries already. We don't have mulberry bushes here in AK. Our berries are ready in August. Enjoy the harvest.

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  8. We were just out on a hike and found the best wild black raspberries as well. I'm used to such things not coming out until August in Maine, but here in PA they're much earlier.

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  9. I miss my mulberry tree from the old house! Maybe I should plant some next to our coop! However today, we scrounged up 2 qts of wild black raspberries and there are more to come!

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  10. You have mulberries! Lucky you. I love mulberry pie and mulberry jam. You could raise silk worms too. Haven't foraged for much lately, but our neighbor pointed out where we have a persimmon tree in our woods. Trouble is, it's an oldie and a biggie! As in the persimmons are waaaaaaay up there.

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  11. I love mulberries. I only tasted them for the first time last year because there is a mulberry tree at the garden I work at. I'm hoping to get a bunch this year and make jam or waffle syrup.

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Thanks for visiting with us girls...put your feet up and stay for a while.