Despite the popularity of the young childrens rhyme, mulberries do not, in fact, grow on bushes.
It is also a nuisance for driveways and sidewalks.
The Red Mulberry Tree (Morus rubra) is a fruit tree.
The ripened fruit is edible and widely used in recipes for pies, fruit tarts, jams and jellies.
The fresh fruit keeps with refrigeration for several days and can be frozen.
Wines and cordials are made from the fruit.
The mulberry fruit matures from June through August and is abundant for both humans and wildlife.
Importance to Wildlife
Birds and small mammals eat the fruits of mulberry.
Opossums, raccoons, and squirrels feast on the mulberry fruit.
Beavers consume red mulberry bark, and the limbs and foliage are eaten by white-tailed deer.
Mature height is from 15 to 70 feet tall.
The bark is dark and scaly and thick.
The inner bark is tough and fibrous and native Indians used this to make cloth.
The roots are shallow.
Often the tree grows several trunks, appearing to be a large bush.
A childhood nursery rhyme refers to around the mulberry bush.
Good seed crops are produced every two to three years.
Mature fruits fall near the tree and are usually consumed before becoming fully mature.
Seeds are spread by the waste from the birds and animals consuming the fruits.
Vincent van Gogh immortalized the Mulberry Tree in a painting in 1889.
Negative Aspects of the Mulberry Tree
The ripened fruit of the mulberry tree has a downside.
The deep purple color stains everything it touches.
Birds that have snacked on the fruit will leave droppings which stains everything it touches.
Careful consideration must be made when planning for a mulberry tree.
Collecting, Preserving, Using Mulberries
Mulberry trees are common and produce abundant, sweet berries.
Find out how to find, collect, preserve and use mulberries and how to plant a mulberry tree.
Mulberry trees often get a bad rap because the dark juice of the berries stains surfaces.
But the sweet, mild taste of mulberries often brings back memories of barefoot summer days.
What are the best ways to collect and use this versatile berry?
(See photo #2.)
Mulberry trees are commonly found throughout central and eastern United States and are often considered weed trees or pests.
Look for mulberry trees along fence lines, in thickets or in wooded areas.
How to Collect Mulberries
Mulberries ripen in late spring or early summer.
Collect only the ripe purple or nearly black berries, as the reddish ones will be too tart.
Ripe berries can easily be picked from lower branches.
Children especially enjoy picking mulberries, but often the little ones eat more than they put into the bowl.
Pour the berries into a large bowl.
Mulberries collected in this manner need to be sorted and washed thoroughly.
Simply wash the mulberries and place in small freezer bags or sandwich bags.
The stems do not need to be removed.
Frozen mulberries can be used in fruit smoothies or fruit salad.
Mulberries make sweet jam, if you dont mind the seeds.
Purchase powdered or liquid pectin and follow the package directions for raspberry jam, substituting mulberries for the raspberries.
You may use mulberries in place of raspberries or blackberries in your favorite recipes.
Mulberries work great in pies, syrups or whips.
For this reason, it is difficult to find mulberry trees at a garden store.
However, mulberry trees may be purchased through catalogs or on-line.
You may also transplant a wild mulberry sapling.
Look for small saplings growing near a larger mulberry tree.
(Be sure to ask first before digging.)
When transplanting wild saplings, its important to get all the roots when you remove the tree.
Water frequently for the first few weeks after planting.
Mulberry trees grow quickly and take little care.
Care of the Red Mulberry
Planting
Trees need full sun and adequate space to grow.
Space between trees should be no less than 15 feet.
Do not plant near walkways, as fruit will stain the sidewalks and be drug inside.
Soil
Warm and well-drained.
No special pruning is needed except to rid tree of dead wood.
Harvesting fruit
Harvest is between late May and July.
Harvest by placing a tarp under the tree and shaking branches to release ripened fruit.
Mulberries are Healthy and Delicious
Chinese medicine has used mulberries for a number of ailments for centuries.
They are helpful for insomnia and prematurely gray hair.
They are healthy and delicious..
Mulberries are those flavorful little fruits that people think are so yummy.
In South Dakota, theMulberriesare ripening on the trees.
They are changing from green to pink, then to a dark purple.
The trees can be found in many places.
There are many different varieties of mulberries.
The most popular are a dark purple.
The other kinds range to a light purple, pink or white.
Mulberries contain carotene, thiamene, riboflavin, vitamin C, tannin, linoleic acid and steric acid.
The ideas are endless and delicious.
The mulberry, orsang shen, has a number of uses.
It treats dizziness, tinnitus, and insomnia.
It can help in the premature graying of hair.
This berry also enriches the blood and yin and treats constipation when due to blood deficiency.
The dose when used in Chinese medicines is 6 to 15 grams per day.
This is often made into a syrup form, and is just naturally sweet.
The mulberry leaves,sang ye,are used to treat sore throats, coughs, fever and headache.
It can be used internally and externally.
When used as eyewash, it clears red, sore painful eyes.
The mulberry root bark,sang bai pi,stops coughing and sneezing.
It promotes urination to reduce edema.
Mulberry root bark is used as a decoction to get rid of tapeworms.
The mulberry twig,sang zhi,also has health value.
It also helps relieve arthritis in the joints of the arms.
One other ingredient that comes indirectly from the mulberry tree is from the silkworms that eat only mulberry leaves.
The body of the silkworm,jang can, is used in treating childhood seizures and facial paralysis.
It can also be used to extinguish wind and stop tremors.
The silkworm feces,can sha,is used as a poultice or tea for itchy rashes.
Rarely Sold in Stores
Fresh mulberries are rarely sold in stores or farmers markets.
In in some areas, you might find them as dried fruit.
Mulberries do not last very long once they are off the tree.
Even when placed in the refrigerator, they go mushy within a day or two.
