FRESH MULBERRY RECIPES - Page 3

wagirl · ‎03-09-2010

@cheriere ---not sure mulberries are a thing here is WA state----have never seen them at farmers markets or in the stores. But if I do find some---I----maybe---would try them??!!

AuntMame · ‎10-16-2010

@Shihtzursqmom wrote:
Oh I wish I’d seen this post a few weeks ago
I passed up getting a few bushes From a lady who also didn’t know anything about them except someone told her
they were invasive so I decided I wouldn’t get them

There are two types of mulberry in the U.S. Native and invasive. The invasive ones are bush-like and usually have whitish berries that don't taste very good. The bark is a distinctive bright yellow. The native mulberries are trees with luscious purple berries.

Interesting story. When our country was young our founding fathers decided that one path to making the U.S. economically independant from Britain was to establish a silk industry. To that end they imported mulberry bushes from Asia, the unique variety on whose branches silk worms love to spin their coccoons. However colonial women did not have time to spent gobzillions of hours unwinding silk "thread" from silk coccoons. Some tried, but most gave it up.

The Asian mulberry bushes they imported have since spread over the country to become a nasty invasive plant.

We have both native and invasive mulberries on our property. We spend a lot of money every few years to try to rout out the invasives.

I pick the purple native mulberries but we always eat them before they can be baked into anything.

Citrine1 · ‎03-09-2010

Blackberries are my favorite fruit, so I'm sure I'd love these as well. Thing is, I've never seen one. Not in grocery stores or at farmers markets. I'm wondering if they just aren't available in the Northeast or if I'm not looking hard enough.

With regards to the "worms", I'm sure we've all eaten a worm or two in our life and didn't realize it. haha

Shihtzursqmom · ‎06-02-2023

AuntMame thank you for the explanation on the mulberry’s I’m thinking since Icegoddess said they are trees what I’d got would have been the invasive kind I’m glad I didn’t get them

AuntMame · ‎10-16-2010

@Citrine1 wrote:
Blackberries are my favorite fruit, so I'm sure I'd love these as well. Thing is, I've never seen one. Not in grocery stores or at farmers markets. I'm wondering if they just aren't available in the Northeast or if I'm not looking hard enough.

With regards to the "worms", I'm sure we've all eaten a worm or two in our life and didn't realize it. haha

When you pick them they have a little white core and you need to pull them off the core. Perhaps that is the "worm" that people are talking about.

Once you pick them they wilt pretty fast. They don't remain plump and round. That may be why you don't seem them at markets.

They grow wild in parks and along the sides of roads here in the Midwest and I often see families stop to pick them. I've personally never seen them at any grocery stores or even at the better produce markets despite their bounty around here. It may be because they wilt so fast, they just don't store well.

Other berries like blueberries have been bred specifically to have a robust skin so that they pick and transport easily. I don't think that's ever happened to mulberries. They're a very fragile berry.

Enufstuff · ‎03-12-2010

@Citrine1 I live just north of Boston and there are two mulberry trees across the road from my house. They do grow in the northeast, but I have not seen them in grocery stores or farm stands for sale. Like what @AuntMame said, they are fragile, probably too fragile to pick for selling them.

I have never heard of anyone growing them for harvesting or selling. They don't seem to be that plentiful and I think that a lot of people around here, don't know what they are.

There was a mulberry tree next to the parking lot of the school that I worked at. In summer, you did not want to park under or too close to the tree. The berries can be very messy. The birds love them and they deposited some messy stuff on the cars.

At home we love to watch the birds and squirrels visit the mulberry trees. When the berries appear in summer, that is only time we see Baltimore Orioles. They love the mulberries.

Other animals eat the ones that drop to the ground. You don't want to walk on the sidewalk, where the berries drop.

I've tasted a few, but have never made anything with them. I bet they would be very good in muffins. I have put them in yogurt.

Citrine1 · ‎03-09-2010

@AuntMame That was very informative. Thank you so much!

Citrine1 · ‎03-09-2010

Thanks to you too @Enufstuff for your detailed explanation! Very interesting.

cheriere · ‎12-01-2023

@AuntMame wrote:
@Shihtzursqmom wrote:
Oh I wish I’d seen this post a few weeks ago
I passed up getting a few bushes From a lady who also didn’t know anything about them except someone told her
they were invasive so I decided I wouldn’t get them
There are two types of mulberry in the U.S. Native and invasive. The invasive ones are bush-like and usually have whitish berries that don't taste very good. The bark is a distinctive bright yellow. The native mulberries are trees with luscious purple berries.

Interesting story. When our country was young our founding fathers decided that one path to making the U.S. economically independant from Britain was to establish a silk industry. To that end they imported mulberry bushes from Asia, the unique variety on whose branches silk worms love to spin their coccoons. However colonial women did not have time to spent gobzillions of hours unwinding silk "thread" from silk coccoons. Some tried, but most gave it up.

The Asian mulberry bushes they imported have since spread over the country to become a nasty invasive plant.

We have both native and invasive mulberries on our property. We spend a lot of money every few years to try to rout out the invasives.

I pick the purple native mulberries but we always eat them before they can be baked into anything.

Thank you so much for sharing this story. It's very interesting! We've already eaten our purple berries too lol.

cheriere · ‎12-01-2023

@Enufstuff wrote:
@Citrine1 I live just north of Boston and there are two mulberry trees across the road from my house. They do grow in the northeast, but I have not seen them in grocery stores or farm stands for sale. Like what @AuntMame said, they are fragile, probably too fragile to pick for selling them.

I have never heard of anyone growing them for harvesting or selling. They don't seem to be that plentiful and I think that a lot of people around here, don't know what they are.

There was a mulberry tree next to the parking lot of the school that I worked at. In summer, you did not want to park under or too close to the tree. The berries can be very messy. The birds love them and they deposited some messy stuff on the cars.

At home we love to watch the birds and squirrels visit the mulberry trees. When the berries appear in summer, that is only time we see Baltimore Orioles. They love the mulberries.
Other animals eat the ones that drop to the ground. You don't want to walk on the sidewalk, where the berries drop.

I've tasted a few, but have never made anything with them. I bet they would be very good in muffins. I have put them in yogurt.