Mulberry Trees
One of my favorite trees is the Mulberry. These
are common street trees everywhere, but most of the time they use males, which
have craploads of pollen, but no
fruit.
I've planted six mulberry trees around Three Meadows, all female. (There are lots of males around already.) They're fabulous shade trees, they grow fast, and they're drought-tolerant. This tree is three years old:
Mulberries are delicious, but they don't transport (too delicate) or keep. They have a shelf life of about three hours.
It's fun to grab the berries off the tree and stuff them in your mouth, but if you want large quantities, the easy way is to spread out a tarp beneath the tree and shake it -- the rip fruit falls out easily. Then you can shovel huge scoopfuls into your mouth.
I don't think it would make good jelly (not tart enough), but I seem to have heard of mulberry wine.
The bad stuff: Mulberries are such awesome shade trees that lawns pretty much won't grow beneath them. And in the fall they drop an unbelievable quantity of leaves. And the berries are stainy. Don't put one outside your front door unless you want your floor permanently purple from people tracking in berry juice.
I've planted six mulberry trees around Three Meadows, all female. (There are lots of males around already.) They're fabulous shade trees, they grow fast, and they're drought-tolerant. This tree is three years old:
Mulberries are delicious, but they don't transport (too delicate) or keep. They have a shelf life of about three hours.
It's fun to grab the berries off the tree and stuff them in your mouth, but if you want large quantities, the easy way is to spread out a tarp beneath the tree and shake it -- the rip fruit falls out easily. Then you can shovel huge scoopfuls into your mouth.
I don't think it would make good jelly (not tart enough), but I seem to have heard of mulberry wine.
The bad stuff: Mulberries are such awesome shade trees that lawns pretty much won't grow beneath them. And in the fall they drop an unbelievable quantity of leaves. And the berries are stainy. Don't put one outside your front door unless you want your floor permanently purple from people tracking in berry juice.
Filed Sun - May 21, 2006, 06:40 AM in
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