My mental list of “interesting food to grow” is topped by Mulberries thanks to your description and also a) because I am lucky to have moved to a house with not only a mature quince but also a medlar tree, and b) because I have already acquired a couple of honey berry plants earlier this year as well as a Chilean Guava. I’ll be keeping an eye on your website!
817g of mulberries. That is VERY precise, Mark! As we have a mulberry tree (grandchild of one from Shakespeare’s garden, no less, and famed as such), AND a lemon verbena tree with a 12ft wingspan, I’ve now ordered a bottle of vodka to make this! x
How on earth did you let an Almond Magnum go rogue Mark? Also, I have never eaten a fresh mulberry and this piece made me positively ache to try them. I realised, too late, that my neighbour here has a white mulberry tree. I will be doing a little midnight scrumping next year.
One of the best-never episodes of Ready, Steady, Cook. Or should that be Ready, Steady, Thaw? I do love the idea of getting hold of some mulberries, persistently being pushed from these shores, but then I've also just experienced a first ever questioning of my faith in these episodes of Abundance.... How are we to continue to trust in the instincts of a man who would allow an almond Magnum to fester in the bearded frost of his freezer drawer?
"It’s also a conveyor belt of promises to the future." is a lovely turn of phrase. Though my freezer drawer is more accurately a failure of Food Planning and Smoothie Fad Past. I'm off to work on that OBE.
My daughter hoovers any chocolate or magnums in the post code, so my mind thought it’s reasonable to suppose she’d finished them off. That’s all I can offer in defence, your honour. I can’t believe you haven’t got an OBE already…
I would never have not known that ice cream or the Magnum were in my freezer! I’m mourning a broken ice cream maker and the fact my new favourite, Brickell’s, seems to be out of stock all over the country
I’ll always remember the moment I was introduced to mulberries - by you! “Come on,” you said as years ago we stood gazing at the Sissinghurst mulberry tree, which was bursting with ripe fruit and positively asking to be pilfered, “you’ll never have tasted anything like it.”
I sympathise with King James. 35 years ago we bought a black mulberry, only to weep when it produced abundant white fruit. However, all is not lost. I have become quite partial to their subtle almond blossomy flavour and often wonder about the viability of setting up in silk production. I'm intrigued by the idea of using my medlars for a sticky toffee pudding.
Hello Sylvia, well, unwittingly you have stumbled into a mulberry minefield…the three main types of mulberry - red, white, and black - can have fruit coloured not in keeping with their name, so it’s perfectly possible to have a black mulberry! I have a white fruited hybrid - Carmen - that is exactly as you say, of almond blossom flavour
We're lucky enough to surrounded by mulberry trees here in our corner of Le Marche..... unfortunately, my one and only foray into their fruit was extremely disappointing. A visiting Dutch friend wondered why we had done nothing about picking the clearly ripe fruit and rhapsodised about its wonderful aroma and flavour. So off we went....the tree seemed to be full of very angry insects, (angry at our intrusion no doubt) which made the picking unpleasant, but we persevered and managed to collect around 2 kilos. Straight from the tree I could only detect the blackberry from your lyrical description....and processed into jam, (which would appear to be a mistake from your narrative) just left us with a sticky gloop and lots of hard little stems that were incredibly difficult to separate. I'm wondering now if our local trees are a different variety and I'm missing a trick. I have to admit I haven't bothered again.
On a positive note, I always enjoy your musings, the photos and the sheer joy that always emanates from your writing 😎
Thank you Lucy, and sorry for the insistent mulberry experience! It maybe a peculiar hybrid, and if you picked only the very darkest fruit that were crazily juicy then I can’t imagine any other explanation
I guess I need to try a few more 😜 Your description is so mouth watering that I want to replicate it if possible…. Unfortunately, it's too late for this year but I will try and remember in the early summer next year 😉
My mental list of “interesting food to grow” is topped by Mulberries thanks to your description and also a) because I am lucky to have moved to a house with not only a mature quince but also a medlar tree, and b) because I have already acquired a couple of honey berry plants earlier this year as well as a Chilean Guava. I’ll be keeping an eye on your website!
What a delicious collection Marjan!
817g of mulberries. That is VERY precise, Mark! As we have a mulberry tree (grandchild of one from Shakespeare’s garden, no less, and famed as such), AND a lemon verbena tree with a 12ft wingspan, I’ve now ordered a bottle of vodka to make this! x
It’s important to be very precise with ONE ingredient Jo! I’m envious of both your mulberry and the lemon verbena! X
I have never tried mulberries, I wonder if I would like them, maybe one day I will try them and find out.
I hope you do Jo
How on earth did you let an Almond Magnum go rogue Mark? Also, I have never eaten a fresh mulberry and this piece made me positively ache to try them. I realised, too late, that my neighbour here has a white mulberry tree. I will be doing a little midnight scrumping next year.
I thought my daughter would have eaten it…that’s the only defence I can mount!
Well this was the perfect read over lunch, Mark.
Still yet to try mulberries, but after that description I’m more keen than ever! May have to go on a little foraging quest to find some wild ones.
I’m always a little scruffy, some would said, so I’m ready…
Give it 10 days and I’ll meet you in the byes and introduce you to the mulberry!
You’re on! 🙌
The opening paragraph--I will be giggling over that one (even though women in their 60s should probably steer clear of unbridled giggling) for days...
Thank you Diana!
One of the best-never episodes of Ready, Steady, Cook. Or should that be Ready, Steady, Thaw? I do love the idea of getting hold of some mulberries, persistently being pushed from these shores, but then I've also just experienced a first ever questioning of my faith in these episodes of Abundance.... How are we to continue to trust in the instincts of a man who would allow an almond Magnum to fester in the bearded frost of his freezer drawer?
"It’s also a conveyor belt of promises to the future." is a lovely turn of phrase. Though my freezer drawer is more accurately a failure of Food Planning and Smoothie Fad Past. I'm off to work on that OBE.
My daughter hoovers any chocolate or magnums in the post code, so my mind thought it’s reasonable to suppose she’d finished them off. That’s all I can offer in defence, your honour. I can’t believe you haven’t got an OBE already…
Lovely writing, as ever. I'm still waiting for the little mulberry tree I planted two years ago to bear fruit. 817 kg is but a distant dream....
Gah, me and my typos!
I would never have not known that ice cream or the Magnum were in my freezer! I’m mourning a broken ice cream maker and the fact my new favourite, Brickell’s, seems to be out of stock all over the country
I would have thought the same about the magnum and ice creams, but many months/years of deluging with other things took it from my tiny mind
Hah - brings to mind the lyrics of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush by Traffic: ' Here we go round in circles to nowhere, mulberry bush......'
I LOVE Traffic!
I’ll always remember the moment I was introduced to mulberries - by you! “Come on,” you said as years ago we stood gazing at the Sissinghurst mulberry tree, which was bursting with ripe fruit and positively asking to be pilfered, “you’ll never have tasted anything like it.”
If life imitated Richard Curtis films we would have driven off into the sunset after that, in an old DB8!
🤣❤️🤣
I sympathise with King James. 35 years ago we bought a black mulberry, only to weep when it produced abundant white fruit. However, all is not lost. I have become quite partial to their subtle almond blossomy flavour and often wonder about the viability of setting up in silk production. I'm intrigued by the idea of using my medlars for a sticky toffee pudding.
Hello Sylvia, well, unwittingly you have stumbled into a mulberry minefield…the three main types of mulberry - red, white, and black - can have fruit coloured not in keeping with their name, so it’s perfectly possible to have a black mulberry! I have a white fruited hybrid - Carmen - that is exactly as you say, of almond blossom flavour
Ok, after reading your words about mulberries now on several occasions, I am defo going to plant some!
You must!
“Living alongside an Almond Magnum” made me laugh. We have mulberries Mark. Fruited for the first time in years.
I hope you enjoy them with an almond magnum JP!
We're lucky enough to surrounded by mulberry trees here in our corner of Le Marche..... unfortunately, my one and only foray into their fruit was extremely disappointing. A visiting Dutch friend wondered why we had done nothing about picking the clearly ripe fruit and rhapsodised about its wonderful aroma and flavour. So off we went....the tree seemed to be full of very angry insects, (angry at our intrusion no doubt) which made the picking unpleasant, but we persevered and managed to collect around 2 kilos. Straight from the tree I could only detect the blackberry from your lyrical description....and processed into jam, (which would appear to be a mistake from your narrative) just left us with a sticky gloop and lots of hard little stems that were incredibly difficult to separate. I'm wondering now if our local trees are a different variety and I'm missing a trick. I have to admit I haven't bothered again.
On a positive note, I always enjoy your musings, the photos and the sheer joy that always emanates from your writing 😎
Thank you Lucy, and sorry for the insistent mulberry experience! It maybe a peculiar hybrid, and if you picked only the very darkest fruit that were crazily juicy then I can’t imagine any other explanation
I guess I need to try a few more 😜 Your description is so mouth watering that I want to replicate it if possible…. Unfortunately, it's too late for this year but I will try and remember in the early summer next year 😉
I'm joining the freezer club - pots of all sorts that will never be eaten plus a freezer full of stuff I won't mention here!
They are repositories of what should already be compost aren’t they!
A good way of describing the contents! Plus the odd cooling jacket and rug for the dogs