Two young and previously unidentifiable trees in my back yard have finally proven themselves to be Mullberries, and they're positively loaded with fruit that's ripening quickly. I'd love to take advantage of this surprise. What can I do with them? Are they safe to eat? If I can use them in recipes, does anyone have some favorites that they'd care to share? Thank you! :)

-- punky (mayfaire@netzero.net), June 18, 2000

Answers

Mulberries make really good jelly. The birds are getting most of ours If you can't find a rec. in the box of pectin try the blackberry recipe and add 2T.lemon juice. My mother-in-law and I did this once and it was delicious. I've made them in berry crisps. Easy rec. 1stick butter.1c. sugar(more if necessary)...2c. flour mix til crumbly..spread over berries in sprayed baking dish...bake at 400 degrees for about an hour. Enjoy

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), June 18, 2000.

I have never tried this recipe, but here it is. Lemon-zested Mulberry and Rhubarb Crisp 2 cups fresh mullberries or blackberries, 4 cups 1-inch slices fresh rhubarb, 1 tablespoon instant tapioca, juice and grated zest from 1 lemon, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup all purpose flour, and 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened. Lightly butter baking dish, combine berries, rhubarb, tapioca, and lemon juice, and 1 cup sugar. Transfer the fruit mixture to the baking dish and combine the remaining sugar, the flour, and the lemon zest in a small bowl and rub the butter into the flour mixture to form large crumbs and sprinkle on top of the fruit and bake at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes or until the top is browned and crispy. Serve hot. Sounds like it might be good with ice cream. Good luck!

-- cynthia hemenway (cynthiahemenway@hotmail.com), June 18, 2000.

Also make the jelly recipe thinner and use as pancake syrup. You could dry them and use in granola recipes or fruitcakes (if you eat those)

-- Jill (AZ) (lance1_86404@yahoo.com), June 18, 2000.

Don't have a recipe, but from what I hear, they make incredible wine!!! You might contact a "brew your own" outlet in your area (they seem to be popping up all over the place) and ask them if they have recipes for it -- or check out the internet!

-- Tracy (trimmer@westzone.com), June 18, 2000.

Or ask Brad - re wine...

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), June 18, 2000.

Using them whole needs a decision - leave the stalk in and just deal with it, or de-stalk - difficult, tedious and messy. Eat them fresh if you can. Juice them and freeze the juice - add to drinks, desserts, whatever later. Cook and rub through a strainer - gives pulp to use in whatever, and removes the stalks.

They stain! Rub an unripe berry on the stain to remove it. Works marvelously - nothing much else does.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), June 19, 2000.

You can use them like any other berry but be careful that they are fully ripe. Unripe mulberries are known to cause halucinations.

-- William in WI (thetoebes@webtv.net), June 19, 2000.

I never had a hallucination from eating an unripe mulberry, but you would think I did from the faces I made. The unripe ones are SOUR! Can't see anyone eating enough to get into trouble. Of course some folks do weird stuff.....

-- Les (lvaughn@suntransformer.com), June 19, 2000.

I got a kick out of this post because we just discovered we have mulberry trees as well. We have lived here for seven years and just happened to notice last week that they were sprouting fruit. We asked our next door neighbor and he said they are mulberries. They tasted great. I think I will try to make something with them either jam or syrup. Yum! I'm on a canning fruit and veggies spree this year and am trying to make jam out of anything I can think of while I'm waiting for my tomatoes to be ready. This is another candidate for me. I'm glad we had Y2k. It made me be better about preserving food.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), June 19, 2000.

Ahh...the wonderful purple days of my youth........

Purple hands, purple face, purple clothes, purple feet..... Our favorite climbing trees were a mulberry and a mimosa. Mulberries make great war paint unless you are going to town any time soon...... Lucky for mom, the fruit doesn't last long.

-- Mona (jascamp@ipa.net), June 19, 2000.

I don't know if those of you with the mulberry trees also have livestock, but according to what I've read (never having been blessed with mulberry trees myself!) chickens and pigs love them, and will fatten well on them. If you've got a lot, you probably won't be making jelly or wine out of all of them, so feed the extras to the critters and save on the feed bills! (And read Tree Crops by J. Russell Smith)

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 19, 2000.

Our mulberry trees attract lots of wildlife to our yard. It is not uncommon for us to look out and see deer, racoons, foxes, possums, etc chowing down on the fallen fruit. Unfortunatley they also draw thousands of flies. Oh well, nothing's perfect.

-- Les (lvaughn@suntransformer.com), June 20, 2000.

You can also dehydrate mulberries and use them much like raisins, although they will have seeds. Here is one procedure from Bootstraps and Biscuits: 300 wonderful wild food recipes from the hills of West Virginia. The easiest way to get fresh berries is to place a sheet of plastic on the ground then shake limbs. Place in salt water and weight down with a plate for 30 minutes. Run a small stream of water over them, stirring occasionally, to remove any insects. Clip off the stems next to the berries. Place on a screen, cover with cheesecloth and elevate a couple of inches over something which will get hot, such as a sidewalk or roof. Bring in at night and take back out the next day after stirring a bit. If still not done, they can be finished at 150F in an oven with the door just a bit opened. When completely dry, store in a glass jar covered and place in a dark cupboard.

When I was a kid two favorite past times with buddies was slingshot fights using either cherry tomatoes (from an abandoned farm field) or mulberries. Went to school several times with purple stains on face and arms.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), June 23, 2000.