The Mulberry---The Sleeper

Years ago folks would go "All around the Mulberry bush" and then all fall down or something. (Maybe they were intoxicated.) It was a tree and I remember as a human larva eating the berries but only directly from the tree and not in anything else like pies. They were tasty, abundant, maybe a touch messy, easy to pick but of little interest to the homemaker.

I seem also to remember that they were, at another level, despised because berry eating birds and animals relished them and once consumed, the dark purple berries passed through the consumer's inards and then ended up being deposited on various human items, like automobiles and the fresh drying wash on the line. They left an unwelcomed stain and certainly led to the murder of many trees. As a kid it was like whoopee-do, but then I didn't do the wash nor did we ever clean our cars. I am not sure anybody did as vehicles were largely just to get around not impress any local chicks----at least not our cars.

It never really occurred to me that Mulberries might be used for human consumption. Maybe some folks thought persons might make fecal deposits on items of value. I don't really know as I was not in that habit---but others were weird---Ed Gein was only a few miles away. The Mulberries just weren't used.

A couple of years ago, a local wine maker, probably jellies as well, gave me notice that he had a tree full of ripe ones and all we had to do was shake the tree and the berries ( along with various crawling insects) would drop in great mass on to a sheet spread under the tree. From there the berries could be used for things.

Turned out that it is difficult to separated the berries form the stems, so jam was out unless one wants a "stemy" jam. However, it was found they can be used to make jelly and, of course, wine.

Thrilled by this knowledge, I planted a volunteer in the front yard because I felt compassion for its sorry ass being in a bad location. Well, low and behold, this year the manicured tree has presented a nice crop, maybe a gallon, of fat berries---all being frozen for future wine and jelly.

So while the neighbors may be in dismay over their stained cars, the Robin living in the tree is delighted to the nines and we have a new sustainable crop.