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insteng

mulberry?

insteng
9 years ago

I notice a lot of people seem to go crazy over mulberries. Are they that good to eat? We have always cut them down here as a trash tree. My car and driveway used to always turn purple from the birds eating them and then leaving their droppings everywhere. If they are really good I might try one in the country where I have plenty of space.

Comments (26)

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    9 years ago

    I like to use them in jam with more acidic fruit like blackberries. If you like raspberries, blackberries, yeah you would like mulberries. They are sweeter, not as tart. make fantastic syrup and jam. Some people cut down blackberries and raspberries too, I would never do that to a mulberry, too good!

  • lucky_p
    9 years ago

    A good mulberry is great.
    Not all are. You're probably used to dealing with the crappy, weedy,introduced white mulberry, M.alba - and the 'white' doesn't mean the berries are white(though some do have berries that don't turn red/lavendar/purple.
    Black mulberry, M.nigra, gets rave reviews, but I can't grow it here.
    Native M.rubra(red mulberry) is good - I've never tasted a bad one.
    Many of the named variety mulberries available in the marketplace are hybrids of M.albaXrubra, like 'Illinois Everbearing',or are superior selections of M.alba or other Eurasian mulberry species.

  • fabaceae_native
    9 years ago

    what lucky said⦠although even M. alba can be very tasty, and it is not unusual to find pure white berries on these. Most of the named cultivars for northern areas are this species or hybrids of it with M. rubra.

  • Persimmons
    9 years ago

    My Memere grew a mulberry tree that became taller than her house. I have the fondest memories of climbing the tree to the top to collect buckets upon buckets of sweet berries.

    I've got 4 small mulberry bushes (variety unknown) that are about fruit-production sized. If I can't move them to a sunny, open location in my food garden, I'd be willing to give them away to someone who has the space.

    I used to have the issue that insteng has: the birds would eat the berries and create a purple, bird-poopy mess on the driveway and cars. If I raisse these small bushes, I'll train them to never grow larger than what I can throw a net over.

  • goodground
    9 years ago

    I planted a Mulberry next to my property to feed the birds and keep them out of my garden and have to admit that it is the sweetest tastiest fruit I have growing. Now I need to cut the top off so I can reach more fruit and compete with the birds.

  • skyjs
    9 years ago

    Also, mulberries are full of resveratrol, one of those anti-oxidants that fights cancer and helps you live a very long happy time. They are so productive and care free. My black mulberry produces heavily for 2-21/2 months!
    John S
    PDX O)R

  • lucky_p
    9 years ago

    Egad, goodground! That looks like a GREAT one!
    What variety?

  • drmbear Cherry
    9 years ago

    I planted my mulberries away from the driveway and cars, but in an area near where I'm growing other more desirable fruits. Yes, I like eating mulberries, but the birds like them much better than blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc. And they are so incredibly productive that I get to eat some of them as well. I just don't try so hard to protect them from the birds.

  • dbarron
    9 years ago

    It's sad...I live where white and red mulberries occur spontaneously...well, quite frequently occur in fact...and I don't eat them.

    My mother is to blame...(and forgive me), but if you were to take a bowl of ripe mulberries and put them in a bowl of water for oh...ten minutes, and see what comes off them, you might not eat them either.

  • clarkinks
    9 years ago

    Kansas wild mulberries are delicious and both white and black colored (maybe called red?) and there are many hybrids in between. The berries are typically 1/2 inch long and produce over a couple of months starting in different months some june others july. We eat lots of them but don't harvest them to the point of provoking the birds. I made that mistake one year and watched them feed my juneberries to their babies. The only problem we have with mulberries is a couple of dozen trees is still not enough.

  • lucky_p
    9 years ago

    M.rubra was present - but not common - in the forests of south AL, where I grew up.
    My wife grew up eating mulberries here in KY - and while we lived in mid-MO, there was a very productive M.albaxrubra tree in our yard that our kids LOVED - and was really my first introduction to mulberries.
    Have grown - and enjoyed - a number of named selections; some very good, some mediocre, and I'm always on the lookout for another good one.
    Planted 100 M.rubra seedlings as fencerow trees to provide some shade in our pastures this past spring. Will probably topwork some of them to superior fruiting selections - but I've never had an M.rubra that I didn't like...

  • skyjs
    9 years ago

    Lucky,
    The mulberry I grow here is the M Nigra "Noir de Spain". M nigra is said to be hard to grow back east due to the rain and humidity in summer, but I've also heard rave reviews from Illinois Everbearing, as the name might suggest, as having great taste and at least a 2 month long productive growing season.
    John S
    PDX OR

  • goodground
    9 years ago

    Lucky,

    Mine is the popular Illinois Everbearing. Surprised how productive and tasty the fruit is considering it only gets some morning sun and uncared for.

  • lucky_p
    9 years ago

    dbarron - just don't look!
    I get little ants (urinary hexapeds) on mine - and used to brush/blow them off, but now I just eat 'em ants & all. The ants add a minty/tingly taste sensation.

  • glib
    9 years ago

    what is wrong with a little entomophagy? It is practiced in 80% of the world's countries. In Zones 5-6, virtually all good mulberries are alba rubra hybrids, red wine color.

    I don't think there is a fruit that is quite so kind to mankind as mulberries. It is nutritious, it is the first after a long winter (maybe haskap is earlier, but it is close), it is care-free and spray-free, and it is the easiest to harvest (spread tarp. shake tree. pour tarp contents into bucket). Taste-wise, a good mulberry is much better than Juneberry, and better than cherries, which are one week after the first mulberries.

  • milehighgirl
    9 years ago

    Lucky,

    but I've never had an M.rubra that I didn't like...

    I can't find info on M. rubra. I only find alba and nigra for sale. How hardy are they, and where can I find them for sale?

  • Bradybb WA-Zone8
    9 years ago

    Here is one for sale at Mail Order Natives. Brady

    Here is a link that might be useful: Red Mulberry

  • Bradybb WA-Zone8
    9 years ago

    One more nursery to check out for the Rubra. Brady

    Here is a link that might be useful: Mossy Oak Nativ Nurseries

  • biorat
    9 years ago

    Edible Landscaping of Charlottesville, VA has 7 mulberry cultivars listed in current catalog. An excellent source of grafted, container grown, less care and uncommon fruits, nuts, edible plants for the home garden.

  • milehighgirl
    9 years ago

    Brady,

    Thanks for the links. Mossy Oak lists Morus rubra zone 6-9.

    Biorat,

    EL doesn't list any rubra. I have heard only good things about their company, however.

    Does anyone grow rubra in zone 5???

  • lucky_p
    9 years ago

    milehigh,
    M.rubra is native - and common - here, throughout the rural 'landscape'. Once you get out of town, where weedy scraggly M.alba pops up in any fencerow/ditchbank or untended flowerbed, M. rubra - and occasional hybrids with M.alba - become more evident in the woods' edge along the backroads.

    I have a couple of M.rubra selections - one each from AL & KY - and a local chance hybrid that are all good. Bought a bundle of 100 M.rubra seedlings from the KY state forestry nursery this spring, and have been planting them out along fencerows on the farm to provide shade for cattle - and fruit for me and the birds. May topwork some of them to superior fruiting varieties. Or not. Planting row-run seedlings, you don't know how many will turn out to be non-fruiting staminate males...

  • insteng
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I might go ahead and plant a few in the back of my property. I figure if nothing else they will be good for the wildlife. I already plan on planting some wild plums back there for the deer and I will pick a few to make jelly.

  • gator_rider2
    9 years ago

    milehighgirl 2,000 ft is highest elevation plant mulberries, check with USDA Forestry service on mulberries..

  • Zach-in-NC
    9 years ago

    I've become obsessed with mulberries ever since I found out that blackberries don't grow on trees (we had a mulberry tree at a town park near where I grew up, and it was amazing). I'd like to plant some on my property for my kids to enjoy eventually (they're young), but am a bit confounded with what's out there. I tend to favor natives when I do my landscaping, but I worry that the reds might not a) be what I grew up with (in southeastern NY with small berries) and b) might not be as tasty as other options. I'm in zone 7b, but have approximately zero experience with trees (until this summer I was unable to spend significant time outdoors).

    My tentative plan is to plant a pair of Morus Rubra, then if they're both male attempt to graft on a female. Alternately, if there are any rubra/nigra hybrids (honestly not sure based on what I've seen on-line) that are worth considering or as a last resort IE (I've read that hybridization with alba is threatening rubra and don't want to contribute to the problem). Anyone have any advice?

  • RedSun (Zone 6, NJ)
    9 years ago

    I thought of planting one or two. But decided not to. The tree is just too messy. I do have the room and tons of birds to help. But I just do not want to plant another tree to feed the birds. They already get so much of my food.

    The real blackberry, raspberry and blueberry are easy to grow and manageable.

  • milehighgirl
    9 years ago

    Lucky,

    I have a couple of M.rubra selections - one each from AL & KY

    How would a person not in Kentucky get selected M. rubra?

    Zach,

    ...plant a pair of Morus Rubra, then if they're both male...

    Mail Order Natives says theirs are female.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Morus rubra Red Mulberry female 1 gallon