Monday
Apr302012
Foraging fantastic - mulberries
I’ve had that silly nursery rhyme in my head ever since finding a mulberry tree (not a bush) over the weekend on the hike and bike trail that hugs Austin’s Town Lake.
;)
I defected from the trail in order to smell the acacia blooms (the next spring-tastic step after the fragrant little yellow fuzzballs, divine!) on a neighboring tree, and bam. Mulberries straight overhead, only a couple handfuls ripe. I’ll be back there in a few days to shake it down again
Free fruit rocks.
What do you do with mulberries (besides stuff as many as possible in your mouth at once)?
tagged 
Foraging, Fruit, Garden & Outdoors
Foraging, Fruit, Garden & Outdoors
Reader Comments (5)
I love mulberries! We had 2 trees by our house when I was growing up and I was quite sad when they had to be cut down. I was out there picking them all the time and trying to figure out how I could climb higher to get more.
I don't remember what my mom did with them. I can only remember eating them fresh.
Ha, all I ever do is stuff them in my mouth! But then, I don't live in mulberrytown anymore--the ordan foraging in NorCal centers more on citrus fruit and occasional fig bounties. :)
my parents had mulberry trees when I was growing up (like all fruit trees, they get sad and scragly after a few decades and need to be torn down or they just rot in place). We used to put tarps down on the ground and beat the tree (by either climbing up and shaking the branches by hand, or beating them with a rake) and then making mulberry jam and/or syrup out of them. It's a HUGELY messy process because mulberries even stain nylon jam bags, but also because you get to mash the guts out of them with a potato masher so that they macerate better. Try it!
Ha! I've been living in a house with a mulberry tree in back for 5 years, and I've never even tried one. Shameful! The first year our entire yard was stained red by the berries, not to mention the ensuing ants and purple bird poop, so we started cutting it back in spring to stop the fruit from coming. This year I've opened my heart to the idea of harvesting the berries and sharing some with the birds, who obviously love em. I'm so excited! Thanks for the additional encouragement.
When we moved to this house and saw our mulberry fruit the first time my husband and I were stumped! Neither of us had ever seen a mulberry before and the only fruit shaped that way that I knew of came on brambles. So, we went online and searched. It was hard finding clues when putting in search words like 'blackberry bearing tree'. Finally we figured it out and we take advantage of having free fruit in our backyard. Since we pick from it every day we never get more than a cup or so at a time (and we don't have the discipline to put them in the fridge for a couple of days so we have a larger amount at once). That doesn't leave many recipe options. I have made a mixed berry cobbler with them and my kids love sliced bananas and mulberries sprinkled with sugar. I think my favorite thing was a lemon and mulberry ice cream. We've got a killer crop coming this year though - I might be able to play with some more recipes!