For many women, Memorial Day means barbecues, days off, cold beer and the chance to debut white sandals. For others, it means hooking up with a swarthy sailor on leave during Fleet Week.
Around where I live, a veritable vortex of agrarian adventure, Memorial Day really only means one thing: Mulberries. Memorial Day is mulberry season.
As you can see, the berries are still a little bit underripe. But they should be black and sweet and ready to pick this weekend.
This year I’m going to try to make mulberry jam. I say “try” because picking mulberries requires climbing a very tall ladder and I’m 8 months pregnant. It’s also quite challenging not to eat all the berries whilst picking, they’re that juicy and tart and delicious.
In other exciting, farm-related news, here are the hens slurping from a bowl of creamy, whole, organic milk. What can I say? I’m whipped. Whipped, I tell you.
All original content © 2012 by Jessie Knadler
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t think I’ve ever had a mulberry. I wonder if I could grow them in MA?
Oh, I’m so jealous. There were mulberries in my grandmother’s backyard when I was growing up and we used to climb on the roof and sit up there eating them. So good. We also had silkworms that we fed the leaves to.
If you want to avoid the ladder just lay a sheet or two on the ground and shake the tree. When ripe they will fall. We used a pole to shake the top. Happy picking.
Can’t say I have had mulberries either, but I’m with out about the ladder. I would make my DH get up there. As for the chickens, I didn’t know they would drink milk. New one on me! Have a great Memorial Day weekend. Around here Memorial Day weekend, means start of strawberry season!
Just made some strawberry sauce. That will be oh so good!
Please don’t go up the ladder. Call me and I’ll go up for you, seriously, especially if I get to snack along the way!
I didn’t know I could give my chickens milk. It will be a nice treat for them. Our little girls are growing so fast that we have put them in the coop next door to the big girls so they can see eachother and kind-of interact. The older ladies seem a little annoyed so the milk will do them good.
If the tree is located such that putting a sheet down is not possible (one of ours is on a fence line, so we can’t use that method – which really DOES work, btw) you can use an un-bent coathanger to hook the branches and pull them down to you.
So far this year, I’ve made pie, syrup, jam and last night, sorbet. I’m totally digging this whole free fruit thing =D
Lorigami: Very inspiring! I’ll have to give the coat hanger trick a try.
Boy, are you lucky to have mulberries. We had a huge while mulberry tree in the back yard when I was a kid. We sure loved it.