last piece

of mulberry pie. The tree is finished for this year.

How to make a mulberry pie: You need a lot of mulberries — about three cups, I guess. 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, pinch of salt, sprinkle of cinnamon, juice from a half a lemmon. dot with butter. cook in preheated oven 400 degrees for 15 minutes. turn down to 350 degrees and cook for at least 30 minutes.

from edible florida:

Earlier in the spring I took several photos of the dwarf weeping mulberry. What surprised me was that while mulberries are deciduous, in my 9b garden, just barely. Before they had lost all the old growth they were covered with new leaves and ripening fruit. I was still picking last year’s fruit when the new spring growth spurt began.

The blacker the dwarf weeping mulberry, the sweeter. At this stage they still have some tartness and taste like blackberries. Often I pick a handful that includes mulberries in varying stage of blackness. Eaten together I enjoy a nice variation of sweetness.

While the dwarf weeping mulberry produces the greatest abundance of fruit in the spring, it continues to fruit year round in this climate.

In earlier times in Florida most everybody had the large mulberry tree in their yard. This meant a reliable tree to produce tasty fruit. But as the convenience of store-bought fruit increased the mulberry fell out of favor because the dark fruit stains driveways, and pretty much anything else. Plant nurseries responded to this annoyance with mulberry trees that did not fruit, yet still provided a carefree shade tree.

The problem with the mulberry as a shade tree is that it sends up so many new plants from the roots that if the homeowner is not careful, the entire yard is soon overtaken by mulberry trees. Longtime Floridians have probably seen this a time or two at a house that has been left empty with yard neglected.

The dwarf weeping mulberry becomes a good solution, which can be grown in a large planter or a small-space garden.

One caution: I notice that mine wants to product very vigorous fruitless limbs from the base. I’m only guessing but it appears that the dwarf plant is grafted onto a more vigorous fruitless rootstock. Simply remove any stems from the base that do not produce fruit. I have a feeling they could overtake the plant if left alone. They grow faster and stronger than the fruit-laden stems.

If concerned about size, the dwarf weeping mulberry seems to be perfectly happy in a large planter.

Sure, birds take their share of fruit, but you should still have plenty. In general birds are such good helpers at removing insects from the garden, I see no reason to deny them a share of the harvest.

Do not use pesticides. There is no need and you would only be adding unnecessary chemicals to your food. As seen in the photo the old growth does begin to look, well, old. That’s not a problem as it is only trying to go through its normal deciduous cycle.

I do not have the dwarf variety. my tree is huge. and the fruit is a fairly good size, too. the larger ones are about the size of a cap for a pen.