Author Topic: My Favorite Mulberry Tree (Read 7379 times)

WDH · « **on:** May 10, 2007, 09:26:27 pm »

It is that time of the year again! The mulberries are getting ripe

. My favorite mulberry tree is growing along my driveway under a big southern red oak. It is happy there. Even with the extreme drought, this little tree has sweet fruit, this year and every year.

I got home from a trip today, and driving in, I stopped to see if there were any mulberries. Yes! I got a sweet treat, my first of the year. Here are a few pics of this wonderful little tree.

With my daughters, it is a family tradition to take a walk (it is about a mile round trip) to the mulberry tree and either pick them or eat them off the tree. Does anyone else like mulberries? Are there any folks out there who have never had one? Wish I could describe the taste, sorta sweet/tart.

DanG · « **Reply #1 on:** May 10, 2007, 09:59:58 pm »

I like'em!

A few small trees have chosen to roost on my place lately. Never saw them here till about 2 years ago.

None of'em have produced any berries yet, though.

limbrat · « **Reply #2 on:** May 10, 2007, 10:09:41 pm »

I have two little trees that have been making about a week now. The dew berries and huckleberries are also making. The mayhaws are about over i have been freezing them as i get them gona make some fine jelly.

pigman · « **Reply #3 on:** May 10, 2007, 10:15:38 pm »

Of course I like mulberries.

I haven't eaten any for a long time.

The farm I grew up on had several mulberry trees, but I havn't seen any on this farm. If I remember right, the mulberries in this region didn't get ripe to the middle of summer.

Bob

WDH · « **Reply #4 on:** May 10, 2007, 10:21:56 pm »

Hey Dang,

Mulberry is dioecious. How about that for a fancy term

. It means that there are boy plants and girl plants, but you probably already knew that

. There are a few tree species that have male plants and female plants. Most plants are monoeciousc (no kidding. I am not making this up

) where a single plant produces both male and female flowers, just at different times so they cannot self pollinate.

Several species are dioecious, and it is by far the less common arrangement. Persimmon is one. Only the girls produce persimmons

. People ask, why doesn't my persimmon produce fruit? Because it is a boy, and the boys cannot have babies, if I remember my biology correctly

Pigman, you might have some, you probably aren't looking hard enough (or did you put them all in that fine furniture you build?)

Congratulations Dang, you must have a boy

.

Tom · « **Reply #5 on:** May 10, 2007, 10:39:33 pm »

Mulberry grown from seed can be 10 years or longer before fruiting. Many trees don't last that long. Folks get tired of them and mow them down.

I was reading awhile back that Mulberry is capable of changing its sex at whim too. It can be a boy tree or later a girl tree and some have been known to both at once for a period of time. $:-\$

I found one of the best Mulberry's I had ever eaten in Lake Worth Florida back in 1970. I planted it at my old house and, as far as I know, it is still there. It was grown from a cutting in South Florida and I rooted a cutting and brought it north. That's the best way to get a fruiting tree without waiting the 10 years.

WDH · « **Reply #6 on:** May 10, 2007, 10:48:23 pm »

Tom,
I have read that some mulberries that revert back to the monoecious lifestyle will have both male and female flowers on the same plant, but they are on different limbs

.

Tom · « **Reply #7 on:** May 10, 2007, 10:50:29 pm »

I sure hope so.

Larry · « **Reply #8 on:** May 11, 2007, 06:59:26 pm »

My favorite mulberry is a dead one…since I have a white truck.

Of course I won’t turn down a sip or three of fine mulberry wine.

WDH, since you’re the teach, can you comment a little on the difference tween white and red? I’m suspicious those two are interbreeding…just a guess.

Riles · « **Reply #9 on:** May 11, 2007, 07:05:59 pm »

You have, perhaps, a pink mulberry?

WDH · « **Reply #10 on:** May 11, 2007, 08:09:36 pm »

OK Larry, here goes........

Red mulberry (Morus rubra) is native. The leaves are scabrous, that is the upper surface is sand-papery rough. Just run your tongue along one

. Because of this roughness, the leaf is not bright and shiny.

White mulberry (Morus alba) is like many things these days, a chinese import. It was brought to North America for the silk trade because it is a favorite food for silkworms. The leaves have the same shape as red, but they are shiny and baby-bottom smooth............

In your pic, the heartwood of that poor deceased mulberry (

) is yellowish. Doesn't it turn brown when exposed to light and dried?

Larry · « **Reply #11 on:** May 12, 2007, 06:29:38 am »

It turns a light brown...not near as dark as osage orange. It looks quite similar to black locust lumber.

Dodgy Loner · « **Reply #12 on:** May 12, 2007, 03:44:10 pm »

I have two mulberries on our property, but sadly they are both boy trees

. Mulberries are my second favorite native fruit, right behind serviceberries. There's two serviceberry trees right beside the forestry school at UGA, and the berries should be ripening any day now. I can't wait

Larry · « **Reply #13 on:** May 12, 2007, 05:37:26 pm »

Quote from: Dodgy Loner on May 12, 2007, 03:44:10 pm

Mulberries are my second favorite native fruit, right behind serviceberries. There's two serviceberry trees right beside the forestry school at UGA, and the berries should be ripening any day now. I can't wait

You deep south guys have funny tree names…we call em sarvis. First sign of spring round here. Just walked out and checked the berries on one…still a month away. And I will have to fight the birds to get my share.

I also saw sarvis lumber…course on the shop bandsaw. Bright white and the intarsia folks really like it.

Dodgy Loner · « **Reply #14 on:** May 12, 2007, 06:58:26 pm »

Bright white? Must not have any heartwood. The "sarvis" lumber I've sawn is a light reddish brown.

WDH · « **Reply #15 on:** May 12, 2007, 08:27:21 pm »

Never had the fruit of serviceberry. Isn't it a little pome?

Dodgy Loner · « **Reply #16 on:** May 14, 2007, 02:35:26 pm »

That's right, it's a red pome, about the size and shape of a blueberry. They taste like a cross between a blueberry and a cherry and make the most incredible cobler ever. And unlike my second favorite fruit they don't stain your hands and teeth purple (although that's a small price to pay for a handful of mulberries).

thurlow · « **Reply #17 on:** May 14, 2007, 04:38:49 pm »

I don't know where there's a single fruit-bearing mulberry; the thickets they used to grow in have all been dozed into piles to increase the size of fields. We were never allowed to eat 'em when I'ze a kid; supposedly they had worms or insect eggs or something.......been too long; I can't remember. Of course, the "not allowed" didn't keep us from eating them. I've also pulled one of those old Farmalls up under a wild/black cherry tree and eaten my fill of them. You had to eat a good handful before getting past the bitterness. I've since heard that the fruit is poison, but, if so, I survived.

Dodgy Loner · « **Reply #18 on:** May 14, 2007, 05:23:04 pm »

Wow, someone's been filling you full of questionable information

. I suspect that your parents didn't want you to eat mulberries when you were a kid because they'd stain everything purple. Worms and insect eggs are not a problem. And black cherries are perfectly edible, albeit a little bitter, as you mentioned. It's the wilted leaves that are poisonous, so they're a much bigger problem for livestock than for hungry youngsters.

thurlow · « **Reply #19 on:** May 14, 2007, 06:10:21 pm »

Nah.........nobody's been filling me with questionable information; it's been handed down through the generations. Maybe I've got a few years on you; my grand-dad was born in 1871 (only 6 years after the end of the War of Northern Agression) and I've been around awhile myownself. I "know" lots of stuff the younger folks don't ...............you probably weren't aware that you couldn't eat/drink dairy products with or after consuming fish.

Tom · « **Reply #20 on:** May 14, 2007, 06:23:19 pm »

I knew that! I knew that!!

WDH · « **Reply #21 on:** May 14, 2007, 06:26:40 pm »

Thurlow,

My grandmother always said that you could not eat fish and drink milk! Wonder where that came from? I am still kicking, though

.

Tom,

Do you know the origin of the milk/fish thing? A lot of the old beliefs were based on long experience. I have always wondered about that one.

Tom · « **Reply #22 on:** May 14, 2007, 06:35:46 pm »

My Grandmomma said it was, "Because".

WDH · « **Reply #23 on:** May 14, 2007, 06:44:08 pm »

Tom, that is good enough for me

. She was right 99.9% of the time about stuff. When I was in college and I came home for a weekend, I always went by Granny's place to visit with her a few minutes before I left. Most times, she would slip me a $20 bill and say, "Buy yourself a hamburger.". Well, back in the 1970's, hamburgers did not cost $20. If it wasn't for my wonderful loving Granny, I would have stayed dead broke

. I really loved that woman. The milk/fish thing brought back warm memories of her, thanks to you Thurlow. One day I will do the same thing when my college grand kids come by for a visit........Thanks to you Granny.

thurlow · « **Reply #24 on:** May 14, 2007, 06:45:17 pm »

Yep, couldn't drink milk; couldn't have ice cream for dessert............just because.

Had hushpuppies with fish, rather than "bread"; so what do you do if you "get" a fish bone..........eat a biscuit.

WDH · « **Reply #25 on:** May 14, 2007, 07:12:01 pm »

Lets not get started on hushpuppies

.

Tom · « **Reply #26 on:** May 14, 2007, 07:16:59 pm »

Yeah, we really shouldn't do that. I like a lot of onion in mine, and for them to be a tad sweet.

WDH · « **Reply #27 on:** May 14, 2007, 07:25:00 pm »

Dodgy Loner · « **Reply #28 on:** May 16, 2007, 05:47:50 pm »

Quote from: thurlow on May 14, 2007, 06:10:21 pm

I "know" lots of stuff the younger folks don't ...............you probably weren't aware that you couldn't eat/drink dairy products with or after consuming fish.

You're right, I didn't "know" that. Did you "know" that you can't eat raw cookie dough because it contains worms? At least that's what my mom told me when I was a young'un. Never occurred to me why the cooked cookie dough (ie, cookies) wouldn't contain worms if the raw cookie dough did.

I'm sure many of these old wives' tales had practical beginnings--for example, my mom didn't want me to eat raw cookie dough because of the risk of salmonella, but she knew that I was more afraid of eating worms than bacteria. With many of these tales, however, (such as the "no fish with milk") the practical reasoning behind it has been lost to history.

Tom · « **Reply #29 on:** May 16, 2007, 07:05:30 pm »

No it hasn't!! It's Because.

thurlow · « **Reply #30 on:** May 16, 2007, 08:24:29 pm »

Had to look this one up because I couldn't remember the details................newly weds; wife sends husband to the store to buy a ham. When he gets home, she asks why he didn't have the butcher cut off the end of the ham. He asks why; she says that's what her mother always did and that was reason enough for her. Since the wife's mother was visiting, they asked her why she always cut off the end of the ham. Mother said that her mother always did it that way. Doesn't make sense to the son-in-law, so he suggests they call the grandmother and ask why she always cuts off the end of the ham. Grandmother replies that she had to; her roaster was too small to cook a ham in one piece.

WDH · « **Reply #31 on:** May 16, 2007, 09:43:17 pm »

Worms in cookie dough

. That is deterrent enough for me

Tom · « **Reply #32 on:** May 16, 2007, 10:02:24 pm »

I love it, Thurlow.

Dodgy Loner · « **Reply #33 on:** May 17, 2007, 05:48:33 pm »

I've heard the exact same story, thurlow. Always makes me think twice about doing something "just because".

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #34 on:** May 17, 2007, 07:15:02 pm »

I've never eaten mulberry. It doesn't grow up here. The wild berries here are raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and service berries. Mulberry fruit kinda looks like a blackberry in those photos. I have seen, but not eaten persimmons. They were on private land down in Virginia and NC, no touch.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #35 on:** May 17, 2007, 07:32:44 pm »

Since we are onto a fertility or gender discussion, I have noticed that some boxelder are sterile and and some just have pollen flowers and no female flowers, then some have female only.

WDH · « **Reply #36 on:** May 17, 2007, 09:11:28 pm »

What do the books say about boxelder? Monoecious I thought, but I have not looked it up.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #37 on:** May 18, 2007, 12:46:32 pm »

I have 3 yard trees that have never had a seed, and several that have seeds annually. The ones with no seed always have pollen flowers, and the trees now with female flowers have no pollen flowers. I'll watch a little later for any female flowers, but I'm sure they won't have any on those trees.

The dendro book says imperfect flowers and dioecious.

WDH · « **Reply #38 on:** May 18, 2007, 04:21:37 pm »

SD,

It is a shame that you never had mulberries. Maybe I should Fed Ex some to you

. The tree still has fruit, but that won't last but a few more days.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #39 on:** May 18, 2007, 05:09:46 pm »

All around the mulberry bush
The monkey chased the weasel.
The monkey thought 'twas all in fun.
Pop! goes the weasel.

thurlow · « **Reply #40 on:** May 18, 2007, 05:53:34 pm »

I looked it up; every site had it like you; guess we were just ignerent. We sang...........

All around the mulberry bush
The monkey chased the weasel.
~~The monkey thought 'twas all in fun.~~ That's the way your money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #41 on:** May 18, 2007, 06:40:23 pm »

thurlow, I think we sang it your way to.

WDH · « **Reply #42 on:** May 18, 2007, 08:39:05 pm »

SD,

You are a forester, a silviculturist, a dendrologist, and a singing poet

.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #43 on:** May 18, 2007, 08:48:21 pm »

Yup, a jack ~~ass~~ of all trades ~~sorts~~.

WDH · « **Reply #44 on:** May 31, 2007, 05:02:12 pm »

Well, the mulberries have been gone for about a week. Maybe the drought made them especially tasty. Now, I am already looking forward to next year

.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #45 on:** May 31, 2007, 07:57:29 pm »

Yup, that time of year.

Just discovered a nice patch of blue berries on one of my thinning blocks. Now they are not very plentiful in this area, they usually grow well on sandy soils. This is on an abandoned pasture that was cut off a few year back from second growth. I think the ground is kind of poor there because the soil is shallow and has a lot of rock out crops in the area. The rest of the forest in hardwood ground beyond the old pasture - yellow birch, beech, maple, ash, large tooth.

WDH · « **Reply #46 on:** May 31, 2007, 11:11:45 pm »

Blueberries?

.

Dodgy Loner · « **Reply #47 on:** June 01, 2007, 12:56:07 pm »

Good to hear you got your fill of mulberries, WDH. I went to Iowa last week, and when I got back home the serviceberries had ripened and the birds had already picked them clean.

Guess I'll have to wait 'til next year.

WDH · « **Reply #48 on:** June 01, 2007, 01:03:18 pm »

Did you stop by to visit Norm and Patty?

Dodgy Loner · « **Reply #49 on:** June 01, 2007, 01:40:08 pm »

I didn't know Norm and Patty were expecting me.

I actually went to visit my sister and her fiance. I don't think I've mentioned it, but they'll be moving to Brazil for two years after they get married in December. It's a lot farther away than Iowa, but infinitely more interesting (no offense, Norm and Patty

). I can't wait to visit them so I can brandish my mad Portuguese skills.

WDH · « **Reply #50 on:** June 01, 2007, 11:22:20 pm »

And eat some black beans and rice

.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #51 on:** June 02, 2007, 05:16:37 am »

Hey I make stir fry with black beans, then add rice quite often. Or I add it to chop suey, not the Chinese veggie shop suey, but the hamburg and macaroni variety.

Norm · « **Reply #52 on:** June 02, 2007, 08:49:40 am »

Well actually it would be WDH's loss dl, I would have sent a couple of logs back with you....you did drive the log truck up right?

WDH · « **Reply #53 on:** June 02, 2007, 10:03:22 am »

OK Dodgy Loner, when you go back up to Iowa for your next visit, you are going to have to drive the log truck

.

Dodgy Loner · « **Reply #54 on:** June 03, 2007, 06:50:33 pm »

No problem...wait, where did I put the keys to my log truck?

WDH · « **Reply #55 on:** May 18, 2008, 09:16:13 pm »

Well, the little mulberry tree has done herself proud! The fruit is especially tasty this year. My daughter and I went to visit the tree this evening, and OH MY, what a treat was in store.

I love May and I love this tree. Maybe they are connected. It has been a lovely spring and the mulberry's are in full flavor.

I will post a pic soon. Do any of y'all have mulberry trees or like to eat the fruit?

metalspinner · « **Reply #56 on:** May 18, 2008, 10:22:47 pm »

I don't think I have ever eaten a mulberry. $:-\$

I know of a nice big mulberry tree (25"diameter at the base) that blew over, but is still alive. In fact, when I knocked on the door to inquire about the downed tree, the husband informed me that his wife is a forester. They wanted to let the tree live on in its downed state. Perhaps because of the fruit? Maybe I will reintroduce myself to them this week.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #57 on:** May 19, 2008, 04:49:09 am »

You picked mulberry fruit already? The only berries here are some over wintered high bush cranberry (V. trilobum) and wintergreen (Gaultheria sp ?). $:-\$

WDH · « **Reply #58 on:** May 19, 2008, 09:18:17 am »

Oh yes, the mulberries are ready!

They are especially long, fat, and sweet this year

.

Texas Ranger · « **Reply #59 on:** May 19, 2008, 11:23:14 am »

I have been picking a handful walking the dog, he does his thing, and I get a red tongue. 4 times a day. Just across the street, and just about gone at the level I can reach.

limbrat · « **Reply #60 on:** May 19, 2008, 12:24:25 pm »

Made a cobbler yesterday for sunday dinner from huckleberries, the last of the dew berries and mulberries it came out very good.

WDH · « **Reply #61 on:** May 19, 2008, 01:30:52 pm »

Mmmmm, I am licking my lips

.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #62 on:** May 20, 2008, 04:52:00 am »

I'll have to wait for the raspberries and strawberries. Maybe a service berry, I see a bush in the back yard is flowering. I never did pick any because the fruit is small and sparse on most bushes I see.

Oh heck, give me a stick of rhubarb. $:-\$

WDH · « **Reply #63 on:** May 20, 2008, 08:42:54 am »

You probably rhu the day without rhubarb

.

WDH · « **Reply #64 on:** May 07, 2012, 09:06:40 pm »

Update,

The little mulberry tree was severely pruned on one side by the powerline ROW clearing crew, but it is still making mulberries!

I had a visitor today that sampled the fruit. He said that he had not eaten a mulberry in ages. Well, we took care of that problem

. Here is Pigman (Bob), The Eater of Mulberries. He came by ~~for a visit~~ to eat mulberries.

There are all kinds of animals that like to eat your mulberries

.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #65 on:** May 08, 2012, 05:08:04 am »

Looks like he's being cautious, like being timid it could be sour.

Sure seems early for tree fruit. The wild pin cherries are just beginning to flower. But we don't eat them. Might get away with letting the unfamiliar taste a few.

WDH · « **Reply #66 on:** May 08, 2012, 07:33:21 am »

SD,

This is just about the normal time for this tree, maybe a few days early. Spring sprung early.

pigman · « **Reply #67 on:** May 08, 2012, 10:51:49 am »

The mulberries were delicious.

After seeing me picking his berries with both hands, Danny decided we just had to go or we would be late.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #68 on:** May 08, 2012, 03:08:07 pm »

My father has some mulberry bushes he planted 3 years ago. I don't know if he will see any berries for some time (years). That's the trouble, your suppose to plant this stuff when your young not after you retire.

Raspberries and blackberries this year sure look sick, look dead and dried out. Don't know why, it was a mild winter.

doctorb · « **Reply #69 on:** May 08, 2012, 03:29:57 pm »

My favorite mulberry tree sits right off my back patio. While the fruit is nice, the bird and animal watching is nicer. When the fruit is ripe I get a wide variety of birds feeding all day. It's a real show. Always brings in a flock of cedar waxwings, and it's the only time I get to see them all year. At night I go onto the patio with a flashlight and see how many pairs of eys are up in that tree. I am not sure that the mulberry is as pleasurable to eat as the blackberries down by my pond.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #70 on:** May 08, 2012, 03:57:20 pm »

Up here it's the wild high bush cranberry we like to watch. Waxwings, chipmunks, partridge and squirrels. The waxwings will invade them in flocks. Then in the fall it's the mountain ash (locally known as round wood) that get fleeced by the robins. Most of these are the none native European mountain ash on fence rows and orchards. You can tell because the buds are fuzzy and the native ones are sticky and bare. The ones around the house here are all European. They grow worst than weeds.

In the fall if you hunt partridge, head to the high bush cranberry groves.

WDH · « **Reply #71 on:** May 08, 2012, 08:12:10 pm »

Doc,

As a kid and a young adult, we picked buckets of blackberries to make jelly. It was MMMmm MMMmm good. We also made mulberry jelly a number of years ago, and it was excellent. Blackberries are a little sweeter to me, and the mulberries are sweet/tart. I love them both; it is a triangular affair

.

JohnW · « **Reply #72 on:** May 08, 2012, 11:53:12 pm »

I don't really enjoy mulberries to eat that much. But it's a real treat to go walking on a nice May evening and run into a little coon eating mulberries.

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Author Topic: My Favorite Mulberry Tree (Read 7379 times)