The problem with wild mulberries is that they are highly variable in terms of both flavor and berry size. Some are very tasty, some taste like kleenex. Some are big, some are tiny. But, if you find a good one, it's easy to take cuttings and clone it.

They are hard to handle. It's easier to clean and de-stem them if you put the berries in the fridge overnight before you work with them -- it "firms" them, as the commercial raspberry growers say.

I make mulberry jam just using the recipe for blackberries or raspberries on the Sure-Jell Light pamphlet that comes in each box, but I always add a little lemon juice (if the recipe doesn't call for it, can't remember) to it (I add a little lemon juice to ANY jam or jelly, just adds a little depth of flavor).

You don't have to de-stem them if you grind them in a food processor and then press the ground berries through a fine sieve -- you end up with pure pulp puree this way, and the stems and most seeds stay behind in the sieve.

There are several mulberry-rhubarb pie recipes out there on the web. I've added one link but a search with mulberry and rhubarb will bring up all kinds of things.

Sadly, they are said to not store well, even if frozen.

As denninmi said, they juice well.

Enjoy them while can. Between the birds and the weather they tend to go fast. =)

I know it is difficult to describe a flavor, but if y'all would give it a try, I'd appreciate it. Are they good to just munch, right off the tree? Or are they better cooked/processed? Does anyone know why they are said not to store or freeze well?

Mulberry Wine (1)
6 lb. ripe mulberries
2 lb. granulated sugar
1 lb. chopped or minced raisins
¾ tsp. pectic enzyme
½ tsp. acid blend
6 pts. water
Bordeaux wine yeast and nutrient
Bring water to boil and dissolve sugar in it, stirring until completely clear. Meanwhile, wash the mulberries after removing the stems and pour into primary fermentation vessel. Add raisins, chopped or minced. Pour boiling sugar-water over fruit and allow to cool to 75-80 degrees F. Add pectic enzyme, acid blend, and yeast nutrient. Stir well, cover and set aside 12 hours. Add yeast, stir, recover, and allow to ferment four days on the pulp, stirring twice daily after punching down the cap. Strain through nylon sieve, pressing lightly to extract juice and then pour into dark secondary fermentation vessel or clear one wrapped with brown paper, topping up if necessary, and fit fermentation trap. Rack after two months and again two months later. Stabilize and set aside 2-3 weeks. Bottle, store in a dark place and taste after six months to a year. A full-bodied wine, it tastes better after two years. [Author's own recipe]

Mulberry Wine (2)
6 lb. ripe mulberries
1¾ lb. granulated sugar
1 11-oz. can Welch's frozen grape (Concord) juice concentrate
¾ tsp. pectic enzyme
½ tsp. acid blend
5 pts. water
Bordeaux wine yeast and nutrient
Bring water to boil and dissolve sugar in it, stirring until completely clear. Meanwhile, wash the mulberries after removing the stems and pour into primary fermentation vessel. Add thawed can of grape concentrate. Pour boiling sugar-water over fruit and allow to cool to 75-80 degrees F. Add pectic enzyme, acid blend, and yeast nutrient. Stir well, cover and set aside 12 hours. Add yeast, stir, recover, and allow to ferment four days on the pulp, stirring twice daily after punching down the cap. Strain through nylon sieve, pressing lightly to extract juice and then pour into dark secondary fermentation vessel or clear one wrapped with brown paper, topping up if necessary, and fit fermentation trap. Rack after two months and again two months later. Stabilize and set aside 2-3 weeks. Bottle, store in a dark place and taste after six months to a year. A full-bodied wine, it tastes better after two years.

After clicking the link,Scroll down for an index of recipes :)

Rachelellen -- like I said, they can be variable in flavor from tree to tree. SOME are really bland and flavorless, just sweet but not much taste. MOST are quite flavorfull. The closest thing in flavor they resemble is a blackbery or a black raspberry. They can have a bit of tartness when underripe, but not much. When fully ripe, they're very sweet. It's just a nice, fruity, berry type flavor. Works very well in any recipe calling for blackberries. They make fantastic pies, jam/jelly, or can also be juiced just to drink if you like. In your area, you can grow some of the Pakistani/Indian/Persian cultivars which have enormous fruit that I can't grow here in Michigan. I do have an 'Illinois Everbearing' that can have berries up to about 2 inches long, as well as two seed-grown trees with much smaller, but still very tasty, fruits.

Dennis
SE Michigan

I think I will make some jelly from them, doing as dennimini has suggested (thank you on that!) and puree them. A gal at work suggested adding some grape juice for a little more flavor if needed. I think the coloring is beautiful (though not on my fingers) but they make a very clear and bright purple when mashed. I'm kinda happy to have these trees despite the flavor issue but if I were buying some I think I would try to find some to taste first before investing. I'm not a HUGE fan of blackberries either for the same reason but I would say they are the closest for me. Lori

Oh please, tell me how to clone it! There is a mulberry I pass on my walk to work growing in a ditch, that has the most heavenly berries I have ever tasted! They are huge, and have a deep flavor with just a touch of acid, very sweet and reminscent of a good blackberry, without the giant seeds. Oh my. I needs it to grow in my yard!

Laura

1) Softwood cuttings in the summertime -- any time in midsummer, take cuttings of the half-hardened new wood, preferably pieces about 12-14 inches long. Cut off and discard the top six inches, it is TOO soft. So, you should end up with cuttings about 6-8 inches long. Pick off all of the leaves but the top two or three. Dip the bottom end of the cutting in rooting hormone, and then put them into pots of good potting soil -- they should be buried about 4 inches deep, so that only the top two to four inches of stem and leaves are above the soil. Put these pots somewhere warm where they get a little morning or evening sun, and put a quart jar or clear bag over the top, but be sure to prop it open partway so it's vented. Keep moist, and they should root in about 3 to 4 weeks.

2) Hardwood cuttings in the early spring -- this is the simpler of the two methods. In very late winter, early spring, but before the buds start to break (around the time crocus bloom in your area would be good), simply take cuttings that are about 12 to 14 inches long, and about half an inch in diameter. Treat the bottom ends with rooting powder, then pot or plant right where you want them to grow, burying the cut ends about 4 inches into the ground. Once again, tenting with a glass jar or bag helps to keep the moisture in. If you happen to have a greenhouse and can give the cuttings bottom heat,they'll do even better. But, even without this, a good share will grow and root.

I would say, with either method, at least half of your cuttings should grow roots and survive, if you keep them moist and take good care of them. So, make more cuttings than you want to end up with, just as an insurance policy.

Dennis
SE Michigan

My aunt brought me 5 mulberry "whips" when we moved into our house because I used to "live" under her tree. Long, sweet, juicy berries and my clothes and fingers were always a mess. I'd make myself sick on them. Anyway, of these 5 trees, all lived and are huge now, one was struck by lightening, 2 are sterile, one produces well, but berries are short and dry, and number five has had lovely berries just like the ones I remember. This year, however, about 95% ofthe berries are mutant, huge, non-ripening bloated things. Don't know what's going on, but I really miss my wonderful berries. Can they change as they age? Is there something else going on here?

We like the lemon taste to bring out a "whang" in the berries, as well. I use chopped lemon balm instead, and that makes it possible to cut back a bit on the sugar. Cobbler is a favorite, or just sugar and milk in a bowl. They're great on cereal, and I've done mulberry muffins, just like blueberry. We don't fuss too much about the stems, just eat them too.

Den, thanks for the tip on freezing.

Carla in Sac

I have a couple of questions regarding Mulberries:

1. I read that Morus rubra (the US native mulberry) only grows to 20' in the northeast - that it only grows to 50 or 70 in the south or mid west? I live in NJ and hope that the tree is a small one (as in around 20').

2. Will the taste of Morus rubra's berries be significantly worse then the commercial M. alba x M. rubra hybrids, such as 'Illinois Everbearing'?

3. I really want(ed) to stick with the native variety (M. rubra), but don't want to significantly compromise on taste - could I graft a M. rubra limb onto my non-native M. alba x M. rubra hybrid (sapling) so that I have both varieties - I'll actually end up just keeping most of the tree M. rubra and only a single maintained limb of the original hybrid.

4. Will grafting the M. rubra onto the M. alba (x M. rubra) rootstock minimize the risk that M. rubra often experiences of root disease (spread by M. alba)? I figure that since the roots are not M. rubra's (at least I think they don't use M. rubra to do grafts) this would be an advantage.

5. Is M. rubra self-fertile - some sites say yes - and some say that it varies. I guess if it's female, the M. alba x M. rubra self-fertile limb would fertilize it.

6. Do you think that a 10' tall and wide Mulberry tree provides all the fruit one would want; if so, I might keep it pruned small.

Thanks,
Steve

Try using a fork and sliding the stem between the prongs then pull them out, I pick about 100 pounds of white mulberries from one tree every season!