That peaceful morning shattered when my gaze landed on the mulberry. Its once vibrant green canopy now appeared strangely translucent. Closer inspection revealed a devastating transformation: leaves were not just chewed, but intricately skeletonized, their chlorophyll stripped away. Indeed, countless minuscule pests, almost imperceptible at first glance, clung tenaciously to the leaf undersides. This sudden … Read more
For the first three years on this property, I grew exactly one mulberry tree. It was a volunteer that had seeded itself along the fence line, and I thought that was enough. I was wrong. That single tree dropped fruit…
The first few years after I planted my mulberry trees, I treated the ground beneath them like dead space. I mowed around the trunks, kept the soil bare, and figured the trees would do their own thing. They did —…
The first time I had a truly massive mulberry harvest — somewhere around year three on this homestead — I panicked. I stood in my backyard staring at forty pounds of freshly picked fruit with absolutely no plan. I processed…
In the spring of my first year on this homestead, I planted a mulberry tree eight feet from my back fence. I was proud of that decision. I had done my research — or so I thought — and I…
In year three of growing mulberries, I stood under my first mature white mulberry and watched about forty pounds of fruit hit the ground over the course of a week. I had no system. I had no containers. I had…
I have been growing mulberry trees for years, and for most of that time I treated the leaves as an afterthought — something the tree produced in abundance that I composted or ignored while focusing on the fruit. That changed when I started researching traditional uses of Morus alba and discovered that mulberry leaves have … Read more
After completing my Master Gardener certification and spending three seasons running variety trials at our county extension demonstration garden, I can tell you that mulberries are one of the most underrated and under-researched fruit trees in the home landscape — which means most of the advice floating around online is either incomplete or just flat … Read more
When you’re running a homestead with the goal of zero wasted harvest, a mulberry tree stops being ornamental and becomes one of your most productive assets — but only if you understand exactly how to time it, process it, and preserve it before the window closes. The problem most growers run into is that mulberries … Read more
My first full season with a mulberry tree in the backyard was a comedy of errors: I missed half the harvest, stained the deck permanently, and ended up with more fruit rotting on the ground than I’d ever collected. By year three I had a system. This guide is what I wish I’d had at … Read more
