[NAFEX] Ripe mulberries now!
Lucky Pittman
lucky.pittman at murraystate.edu
Wed Aug 11 15:39:31 EDT 2004
At 02:19 PM 8/11/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>I just found a mulberry tree that appears to be smack bang in the middle
>of its fruiting. This is a good month plus after all other mulberries
>around here stopped fruiting. Is this a[n unusual] late summer mulberry,
>or is it just our wierd cool summer throwing off yet another plant?
sb,
I suspect that there's more than one NAFEX member on the list who'd be
interested in getting a piece or two of dormant budwood from this tree to
graft & trial - I know I'd be interested in trying it.
>Speaking of mulberries, when the traditional purple ones mix with small
>children the result tends to be a big mess. :-)
In a conversation I had with Dr. David Griffith, earlier this summer, he
was telling me of a Pakistani physician friend of his who indicated that
every year during 'mulberry season' , he sees a rash of broken limbs(arms &
legs - not branches) from folks falling out of the trees while eating berries.
While my kids are not that small anymore, we never really worried about a
little purple staining - but, my wife was the impetus behind us planting
mulberries in the first place, as she had fond memories of climbing a big
mulberry tree in her neighbors' yard and gorging on the fruits. So...she
doesn't get stirred up about the stains.
> Pomona has had references to white mulberries as tasting and being
> non-staining. The name "afghanistan" shows up frequently. Any comments or
> recommendations on mulberries that kids like and won't stain everything?
I've yet to run across a white-fruited mulberry that was to my liking -
just a bit of sweet, and sort of a 'grassy' taste.
Gordon Nofs had one that was purported to taste like muskmelon, but my
graft of it died out - or maybe it's still up there in that seedling M.alba
somewhere and I just can't find it any more.
Off the top of my head, I'm thinking there are several named variety
white-fruited selections, like Tehama & Beautiful Day.
You might check the NCGR site for Morus accessions - seems like they even
have a taste-comparison chart there, if I recall correctly.
Lucky Pittman
USDA Cold Zone 6
AHS Heat Zone 7
Hopkinsville, KY
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