Fer of My Little Gardern In Japan has started this Blog Carnival to showcase bloggers from all over the world, their favourite plants, flowers, trees, moss, veggies, fruits, etc etc etc....Its just like GBBD started by May Dreams Garden or some other special activities created by other bloggers. I think the idea is simply good fun, at the same time learning about each other's garden activities, their favourite things or just keeping in touch no matter in which part of the world we are....so start the Carnival rolling!!!!
MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE.....MULBERYY BUSH
my mulberry fruits from my mulberry bushes....
ripe mulberry fruits turn black or dark purple..very sweet
the beginning....mulberry seedlings propagated using mature stems planted in sand
It started off in 2007 when I embarked on a small private project with my friend, Prof Dr Abdul Wahab Arbain and 2 of his students to work on 2 plots of his land in Jeram, near Kuala Selangor, cultivating temperate plants and fruits like mulberry, pear, kiwi, apple, grapes, blackberry, olive and loquat. He thought me how to propagate mulberry seedlings from mature stems and from there, I planted 6 outside my fence. Since then they have grown so tall, lush and healthy and given me an abundance of sweet fruits after each pruning!
the flowers turning to little fruits after monthly pruning
ripe mulberry on the tree, at this stage, it will drop by itself to the ground
if you dont pick them
lots of fruits after each pruning...unripe fruits are red, sourish
Mulberry is the common name of Morus Moraceae with 3 main species : White mulberry (Morus alba L.), Black mulberry (Morus nigra L.) and Red mulberry or American mulberry (Morus rubra L.) Im not sure which is mine, probably Red mulberry or could it be Black mulberry? White mulberry is the native of China where they are grown mainly for feeding the leaves to silk worms. The Red or American mulberry is native of United States. While the Black mulberry is native to Western Asia and has been grown for its fruits in Europe since before the Roman times.
catching the morning sun....
lots of fruits after each pruning...unripe fruits are red, sourish
taste almost like strawberries
Mulberry is the common name of Morus Moraceae with 3 main species : White mulberry (Morus alba L.), Black mulberry (Morus nigra L.) and Red mulberry or American mulberry (Morus rubra L.) Im not sure which is mine, probably Red mulberry or could it be Black mulberry? White mulberry is the native of China where they are grown mainly for feeding the leaves to silk worms. The Red or American mulberry is native of United States. While the Black mulberry is native to Western Asia and has been grown for its fruits in Europe since before the Roman times.
catching the morning sun....
I have shared the fruits and seedlings with family, friends and neighbours who have never seen a mulberry tree before and equally amazed at the amount of fruits on the trees each time they pass by my house. I made known to my neightbours that anybody is free to pick the fruits whenever they are in season. Usually I will pick the fruits in the morning while doing my gardening, sort of my quickie breakfast...:-)
mulberry bush outside the fence as tall as my garage roof
All 3 types of Mulberry trees are deciduous and can grow to great heights. I have to prune the trees at least once a month to keep them low and bushy which will in turn spur them to start flowering. They need full sunlight and adequate space to grow with well-drained soil although they thrive with minimum fertilisation. As far as I remembered, I only fertilised the plants once at the beginning, when I spread chicken manure on each hole when planting the seedlings in 2007. I only watered them once a day for about a month and thereafter, left them to nature...but looking back, how they have grown since!
...as tall as my pondok too...thats why I have to keep pruning them
At one glance, the dark green, shiny mulberry leaves looking very much alike the leaves of the hibiscus. My neighbours thought they were hibiscus trees but was wondering why they were only leaves no flowers? Until they saw me with a red plastic strainer picking something at the trees and I showed and let them taste the sweet dark fruits! Usually I eat the fruits raw or will blend them to make fruit juice. They can also be made into jam used in fruit tarts, pies or puddings.
Why the mulberry trees are my all time favourite? Besides giving me lots of fruits to my family, friends and neighbours, they are sort of a novelty when I first introduced the tree to them, especially telling them about feeding the silkworms! Everybody is clamouring for the stems to plant them in their garden though I was told, most of them are unsuccessful! I guess I have greener fingers than them or just plain lucky! All you have to do is soak the stem in 2" of water overnight, push it into ordinary sand (or plant it directly at any place you want it to grow), water them everyday until it starts rooting and transplant it. They are great for hedges or as wind breaker.
Visit Fer's blog : http://www.mygardeninjapan.blog.com/ and join his Blog Carnival. Have Fun!
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36 comments:
They look so yummy. You have your own personal natural decoration of Christmas tree right in your garden.
Wow! I always wonder how a mulberry plant look like! I must get one for myself! Can we get it from nursery?
The fruit looks so juicy! sweet?
Mulberry grow wild in my yard. They are almost impossible to kill. I have one large one in the front yard that I cut back several times. It is a huge tree now. One popped up in the back yard, maybe I will be more thorough at pruning it. I also saw one pop up down by the garden and there is one behind the greenhouse, that I have been ignoring, will have to go out and see if they are trees yet or if I can prune them.
Congratulations on your mulberry bush! the fruits look delicious.
I also planted this type of mulberry. Very delicious...but i like to eat with 'sambal belacan' or spicy kuah rojak, now watering my mouth!
What a great choice, though I think having to prune once a month might put me off! We have a nursery rhyme, "Here we go round the mulberry bush" in the UK, but they don't seem to be very common here any more.
This fruit is so delicious and brings me so many memories.
When I was a kid there was this very old and big bush in a plot nearby. I had to climb up a tree next to it to be able to reach the fruit that grew on the tips. It was no easy task for my 5 year old self. But it was always completely worth it!
Thank you very much for your entry to the carnival and for the happy memories!
I was wrong.
I never waited for the fruits to turn black. They were sourly sweet.
We have a child's song called 'Here we go round the mulberry bush' which was said to originate at a prison near to where I live. They have a mulberry tree in the prison yard and prisoners used to walk round it to exercise.
How quickly would a new plant produce fruit?
hmm, now you have me thinking about planting mulberries. I'm looking to plant some fruit in our yard but haven't decided what it will be. These mulberries certainly look nice.
Now that is one generous fruit plant !
I don't think I have ever tried mulberry but they look so delicious : ) .. Maybe some what like our blackberries ? .. I would have loved to be your neighbor and given it a try .. let alone have the berries !
I can't blame you for picking this one .. it is perfect : )
Joy
I love mulberry. I don't see any trees of them here these days.Mulberry jam is delicious.
i never had fresh mulberry.. mesti sedap kan
The fruit looks delicious. I did not relise the trees would still fruit well after pruning. All the trees I have seen have been huge.
I love that you prune your trees so that they stay at a good height for picking. I didn't know they'd fruit repeatedly after pruning, either! We have them growing everywhere where I live and I've only seen them fruit once a year.
Love your mulberry plants! I have one too, my sis propagated for me, and it is growing now, can't wait for it grow bigger! Now I know who to look for advice in growing this plant!
Diana, yes they are just like little jewels with their different reddish hues dangling on the trees.
Malar, they are really sweet when they are ripe.Yes you can get them in Sg Buloh but if you want I can propagate the stems for you the next time I prune them.
Becky, mulberry are very resilient and drought-resistant plant and you are right they are impossible to kill sometimes, you can use weed killer or burn them, in no time at all, you will see green shoots coming out of the burnt stumps!
Deb, thanks..they are very sweet when they are ripe.
Hahaha...Orchid de dangau, trust us the locals, will eat anything with sambal belacan or kuah rojak! Must be the unripe fruits which are sourish cos the ripe ones are too sweet to eat with sambal..
Plantalicious..I know its a bit troublesome to prune them on a monthly basis or else the bush will look like a secondary jungle outside my fence, and if you let them grow too tall, its hard to pick their fruits.Yes I know that nursery rhyme and never thought that one day I'd be growing mulberry in my garden!
Hi Fer, glad to participate in your Blog Carnival and also brought back good old memories to you when I featured this old favourite of mine, the mulberry tree.
Strange - I have not come across any in my neighbourhood.
For the love of mulberries.
Oh.. How I wished I was your neighbour..
hahaha!!!
Hehehe...rainfield, its ok you still can eat them when they are unripe, if you like the sourish taste, and like Orchid de dangau, you can always eat them with sambal or kuah rojak!
Green Lane, I always thought that popular nursery rhyme originated from a children's nursery! hahaha..not from a prison yard! I couldnt remember exactly when they started to fruit since it was in 2007, but probably less than 6 mths if Im not mistaken..
Marguerite, I think the mulberry in your country will be very big because of your temperate climate. But maybe if you prune them often from the beginning, making them into a nice manageable bush, I think it should be lovely in your garden or backyard..
Thank you CanadianGardenJoy, maybe it is a bit like your blackberries..the look and the taste. I havent tasted blackberries yet, although I have the plant too waiting for it to flourish and bloom..
Lotusleaf, I was told by my friend, that the plant actually can be found in the wild in our own jungle, waiting for someone to take it out and cultivate it!
Yummy berries! Your tree/bush looks very healthy and is very giving back to you. Do you make Mulberry wine? Your photos are so good I feel I could just pick one up and eat it. ;>)
Salam Lady, if you want I can propagate it for you so you can plant it in your garden..
Easygardener, Appalachian Feet..mulberry trees can grow upto 80 feet and I was told they bear fruits 4 times a year but mine surprisingly will start flowering after I prune it at least once a month or once in every 2 mths.
kitchen flavours, hope your mulberry bush will give you lots of fruits like mine..
James,Ive seen more mulberry trees around nowadays than mengkudu tree! If you want I can propagate it for you the next time I prune the tree.
Carol, I think not enough to make wine, just enough to make mulberry juice or eat them raw which I love!
Yummy. I also have a mulberry tree. It is probably one of the Asian varieties since the red or American is almost extinct now in Canada.The birds love it as do the squirrels. There are still plenty of berries for me -it's a big tree.
i love mulberries, we h a few of them growing in southern england, the fruit though must be really ripe before they can be eaten, traditionally we lay a cloth around the tree and gather the mulberrries as they fall...gorgeous and so good for you...
i seldom have a chance to taste our mulberry... kakdah loves to taste them as she does her morning rounds in the garden. After work, the ripe ones are always missing... cheers ~bangchik
WOW!!! they are tall and wild! i dont know that we can plant mulberry tree here in Malaysia until i read bangchik's blog. Definitely, I want to plant one.
Hi Chandan,
Your post is of great interest to me because I have 2 plants in my backyard which I planted because I was told the leaves have a property that reduces our blood sugar level. I have not seen any berries yet as the plants are only about 5 months old. Your post has made me impatient for the berries to appear. When is it ready to fruit?
Please reply soon, I'm curious to know when.
Thx,
Rosie
We have tayberries that are about the same size as these but are red. I'm sure they taste great and really juicy.
Hello Patty, nice of you to drop by my small garden. Maybe yours are either the white mulberry which has white colour berries, or the hybrids which has a few varieties in your part of the world. Yes the berries are a good source of free meals to the birds and squirrels..
Hi Hazeltree, thanks for visiting my garden. Yes Ive read abt that traditional method of picking the berries, probably because to avoid the dark purple stains falling on your pavement or it is easier picking them that way since your trees there are so much bigger and taller.My trees and I are the same height, so its easier to handpick them.
Bangchik, KaK Dah has the same tendecy as me, as we potter around in the garden, our hands are as busy doing gardening as popping the sweet berries in our mouth for a quick breakfast! :)
Ayu, they were wild before as they were found in the jungle years ago, but nowadays, you can easily found them in nurseries and in our gardens!
Hello Rosie, well, Im not an expert in mulberry tree, I only shared my bit of knowledge and own experiences in planting them. As I told Green Lane Alottment ealier, mine started to bear fruits about 5,6 months of planting and of cos pruning them at least once to make the branches lower to the ground. Your trees may have climatic advantages or have different variety than ours here, so the growth and fruiting rate might be different too. I think Ive read, that white and red (American) or their hybrids, are ready for harvest in late spring, while pruning should be done in winter when their leaves have fallen. While black mulberry ripens in summer or late summer.Since our climate has sunshine all year round, we get our berries all year round too!
Im not sure of about the leaves can reduce our blood sugar level, but some parts of the world, the young shoots are cooked as nutritious vegetables and especially true of white mulberry,they are fed to silkworms and cattle.You can get more information about the mulberry tree from the internet and books, thats where my bit of knowlege of them came from, besides my own experiences in my own garden...thanks for dropping by.:)
leavesbloom, very seldom heard of tayberries, but I think they are a cross between black raspberry and loganberry and are given the name tay from the river Tay in Scotland which was developed there.Thanks for dropping by small garden.
Hi Puteri, You have 6 of these? How much time do you spend pruning every month. I have 2 on the ground and a few in pots. What I learn from you is to prune more and fertilize less. You have more fruits than I do.
One, it only takes abt 1hr or so. Most people sayang want to prune away the healthy looking branches and the leaves just like the grape vines. I think by pruning you make the tree stressful and new shoots start to come out and start to flower too.But scientificly, if you dont prune, all the small branches will put a strain on the tree to produce more nutrients to supply, so when you remove them and let only the main branches, more nutrients are available to produce flowers and fruits...I guess thats how I got more fruits! Actually, in some countries, the mulberry tree is considered as weed, because they will grow on their own on well-drained wasteland, without any fertilising and they are resilient and draught-resistant.
Wow, what a bountiful harvest. You are good! Here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the muberry bush...
I have planted the mulberry plants since 2005 but I never knew there are berries. I got it from Sematan Silk Worm Factory, Kuching, Sarawak.
Do you think this type of mulberry will bear fruits as if it is the white mulberry as described by you. So good information, I got it lst time too..
The fruit looks wonderful. Have always loved them.
Cher
Goldenray Yorkies
i am research student from Asia Metropolitan University. since i am looking for a mulberry supplier, hopefully you can provide me the mulberry fruits because i really need it in high amount. thank you. can we have further contact?
i am research student from Asia Metropolitan University. since i am looking for a mulberry supplier, hopefully you can provide me the mulberry fruits because i really need it in high amount. thank you. can we have further contact?
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