Saturday, June 26, 2010

We "found" a 20' mulberry tree in our front yard!

The other evening friends stopped by for strawberry raspberry pie. We then went out to pick cherries and they pointed out that we have a mulberry tree in our front yard to our utter surprise. Neither of us had ever seen a mulberry tree and evidently it had been setting on berries and started to produce ripe berries while we were away - the tree is loaded with berries.

Boy, are those little berries delicious!  They look like small blackberries but have their own distinct flavor. You harvest them by laying old bedsheets or something similar on the ground and shaking the tree.  Now the mulberry tree is about 20' tall - so Mark climbed the tree and shook it. He can do anything! Check out the picture carefully and you'll see Mark in the tree.

Check out the resulting jam. YUM! The perfect jam for fresh out of the oven bread. And, my first mulberry pie.

As you know I've been on a mission to identify the trees on our place. This was a stunner because the tree is so unremarkable in looks that I hadn't really noticed it. We certainly had no idea it was a fruit tree. This is like winning the tree lottery!

Check out the first cherry pies of the season and the first mulberry pie  with the blossom crust. These two cherry pies were just from the first picking I did when we got home from North Carolina. We have an abundant crop from our little old cherry tree this year.  The tree is truly old and is held together with steel plates and unfortunately we lost another branch in a big wind storm this year. I hope we get a few more years of production from this special little tree.

Check out the Dots running to check out the mulberry harvest. Once we pulled up the blankets, they discovered all the mulberries that had dropped to the ground on their own - it was a treat for them too.
Wish you were here to enjoy the fruits of our labor! If you do make it, I'll just pull a pie from the freezer and a jar of jam from the shelf to enjoy on fresh bread. I'll leave you with that thought....




5 comments:

Unknown said...

Gary will stop by to pick up a jar of jam...that is a favorite at our house. We always buy several jars when we visit South Dakota. We love to read your blog, Delores.

Faraz said...

Delores, is there anything that you are not professional in it?!? Perfect garden, perfect fruits, perfect foods, perfect animals and perfect pictures! I love it...

Anonymous said...

Wow.............nice surprise.

There is a mulberry tree on the golf course here on tee box number 7. Golfers pick a few to munch on as they stop there. The lower branches are reachable. I've seen golfers standing on their carts to pick some from the higher branches. I think I'll send hubby up the tree to shake it so we can make some jam. LOL Sandy

Anonymous said...

Hi Delores! What a delightful blog - sure makes me want to come visit! I just missed you by a day in Burbank but now I would definitely rather visit you out in the country! But with everyone reading your blog, those cherry pies are going to go fast - I better start making plans! I'm so glad you are enjoying your retirement!
Hugs from Atlanta, Ruth Ann

Anonymous said...

I Just discovered the same exact tree in our front yard today. Are these safe to eat?? Help.....what happens if They aren't