I have noticed many mulberry trees in various locations here in DC, with branches full of ripening mulberries. Could this be an opportunity for urban foraging?
Veteran forager “Wildman” Steve Brill has a page on picking and cooking mulberries. But I’m skeptical about whether they’re really worth picking, since I’ve heard they’re sort of watery and insipid. My grandmother looked up mulberries in an old copy of the Joy of Cooking and it had this to say:
Purple-fruited mulberry trees are best suited, in our opinion, for varying the diets – and flexing the muscles – of marauding schoolboys.
So maybe they’re not really worth the effort. On the other hand, I know I’ve seen some blog posts raving about them. Anyone have any good uses for mulberries?
Definitely worth it.
Amelia, it’s true. There are mulberry trees everywhere, and usually the fruit just ends up as a stain on the sidewalk. How about mulberry wine? You make the wine, I’ll bring the cheese.
Silk farmers will love to see mulberry leaves!!
~ bangchik
They’re really tasty. They make great pies and jams, or just freeze the berries to have with ice cream in the off season.
Absolutely. Super yummy. I’m planting some on our land this year.
Go for it!
Speaking of berry pickin’, check out this blog post about urban foraging. There’s a link on that post to a New York Times article about urban foraging.
[...] clearer about whether it’s okay to add trees on public property to the map. After several convincing arguments regarding their flavor, last weekend I successfully foraged for mulberries. There’s a great stand of trees near [...]