It’s Mulberry season here! \u00a0It’s exciting because I recently found out we actually have mulberry trees (two weeks ago I took a walk around the property with a friend when we spotted a heavily loaded mulberry tree. \u00a0Upon further exploration I found about 9 in various forms of development- and I still have exploring to do). \u00a0As we were preparing to purchase our farm, one of the conditions set forth by the lender was to have a pile of debris moved from an old barn. \u00a0The owner had to cut down a mulberry tree in order to bulldoze the pile to a safe location to burn. \u00a0I have to admit I was pretty sad about that mulberry tree and didn’t know if there were any more. \u00a0Our kids first taste of mulberries came a few years ago when we moved to our last home in the city. \u00a0The neighbor had a large mulberry tree and a lot of branches fell over on our side of the fence. \u00a0The kids loved to pick that tree! \u00a0They are in heaven having so many mulberries now.<\/p>\n
The great thing about mulberry trees is that they are pretty plentiful no matter where you are – in the country or the city. \u00a0You may find them at parks or your neighbors backyard. \u00a0Harvesting is pretty easy – we use a large sheet of plastic (clear stuff on a roll – we used it to cover our windows in one of the rooms of our house over the winter. \u00a0A tarp would be perfect, too) and a hoe (or whatever has a long handle and is lightweight). \u00a0 We lay the plastic under the tree and bang on the branches with the handle of the tool we are using. \u00a0We usually work in cycles, only beating the branches that have cover under them. \u00a0We funnel the berries into a bucket to sort out later. \u00a0Usually only the ripe berries fall, but you get a few unrripe ones here and there. \u00a0Just pick them out.<\/p>\n
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