How to harvest and store mulberries

[@lucainthedale]

Mulberries are so nostalgic for me, they were abundant in my neighborhood where I grew up. 10 year old me would climb the trees to gather and eat the top ones and come down with purple hands and faces 😂

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

I love this. I can totally imagine a little girl in our Mulberry tree doing the same thing.

[@lucainthedale]

😊

[@exploremylocalarea946]

@@EsthersGardeningAdventures I have noticed they have bugs. I washed them 3 times but bugs could not get out.

[@KIP_KnowledgeIsPower]

PRO TIP: To easily get large amounts of RIPE Mulberries off your tree with little effort in a matter of seconds (including the ones up the top)…. Lay a sheet of something underneath your tree all around (paint drop sheets, towels, sheets, anything). Grab a branch & shake. The ripe mulberries will drop off the tree onto your sheet which you can bundle up & carry inside… Saw someone else do this today after I’d just spent hours harvesting mine so haven’t tried it myself yet but I watched it in a video being done. It works!!!! 😂😃

[@adriennesmith.artist]

Nice tip about pulling the stems when they’re frozen!

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Thank you!

[@KS-zc4jn]

Fast way to harvest mulberries: When they are starting to ripen, lay an old sheet on the ground under your tree and gently shake the limbs that are above the sheet. The berries that are ripe will fall, then pick up your sheet and pour them into your bowl. This will take FAR less time than picking individually. Just remove the ones that aren't ripe before washing them. Don't worry too much about the unripe berries that fall. There won't be that many of them and you will get far more berries since you will be able to harvest berries that are much higher than you can reach. No need to get a ladder. Then just let the birds enjoy the rest!

[@briand9137]

I use a big hard umbrella upside down, and move it under the branches I'm shaking. Great collector!

[@KS-zc4jn]

@@briand9137 Never thought of that before. Sounds like it would work good though.

[@glg3945]

Wow those looked good. I haven't had mulberries in a long time. Peace and good fortune and good health to you and your husband. 👍

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Thank you!

[@ScullyPop]

Thanks for teaching us about mulberries.

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

You are most welcome. Thanks for watching!

[@theoldfarmerswife5915]

Here’s a tip for harvesting. I hand picked for about 5 minutes & quickly changed my mind 😉. We lay out sheets & light weight blankets & shake the branches. It’s like getting caught in a hail storm 😂 And another thing I learned, after 20 minutes of removing stems by hand. Even in baked goods, the stems are tender & you don’t notice them, due to all the seeds

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Those are great tips. And a very Good point about the stems

[@dennisfischer8765]

Me and my brothers did also,, mom had to teach us to climb the tree,, I'm older now and medical Retired U.S. ARMY veteran,

[@adrabruzzese7610]

Thanks Esther, great information for all berries.😊

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Thank you!

[@sarahryan2016]

Thanks so much for this video this is the first time I’m picking and storing mulberries so I wanted to make sure I’m doing it right so we can have some to eat now and some for later this video was very helpful

[@karasmelser8752]

Oh my goodness! Our tree is much larger so we do three harvests about 10cups each. I've NEVER thought to freeze them then take the stems off. THIS IS SO GENIUS!

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

So glad you found this helpful!

[@adriennesmith.artist]

Girl, you’re not an aspiring urban homesteader, you ARE one! :) Take that title!

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Awe thank you!

[@vivianp5962]

I've been harvesting for 3 days now in Missouri. Don't have a latter 😢 to get the good ones. Soak, rinse & fridge for a few hours or overnight. Then I just eat them, stem & all. I can eat a tree a day of mulberries. Lol

[@madenabennett]

shaking is the way to go for sure (I use my cherry picker to grab the branches). the problem is it also shakes the bugs and twigs beak off which make it pretty difficult to separate, but I’m harvesting several five gallon buckets at a time. The tree that I can pick from is a ways away so I’ve got to set aside a day. (I never even made jam with the seven gallons I set aside for jam last year….but I have around forty gallons of yummy mulberry vinegar!!

[@TheBobelly628]

You have more patience than me! You should put down an old sheet or tarp and shake the branch - the ripe ones falls to the ground ☺️.

[@bkodra]

in order to save my sanity during garden season, I steam juice berries - especially the ones that have seeds (raspberry, mulberry, blackberry) and steam can the juice and work on making jelly during the early winter months. Fresh made jelly in the early winter on some fresh sourdough bread is like sunshine stored for later. ❤❤😍😍

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

That's a great idea. How does the steaming process work? What tools do you use? Do you use water to steam them and how do you collect the juice without it being diluted with water?

[@claudettehernandez3402]

I just planted an ever-bearing dwarf mulberry bush. This will help me in the next couple years. If the mulberry ripens like my blackberries that will be fine. Pick, wash, freeze repeat for a few weeks then process. Being that it’s everbearing all summer, it just sounds like I can eat as I pick the rest of the garden.😊

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Mulberries can be stored fresh in the refrigerator for about 2 days or 6 months if frozen.

[@michellemartinov6267]

I have been living with my boyfriend for about 3 years, otherwise had a relationship for total of 5 years and just today, he finally mentioned that the huge tree outside that’s covered in fruit is a mulberry tree! I made keto mulberry custard ice cream and it’s phenomenal! I’m currently making leaf tea. I’ve got a tarp under the tree seeing as we lost over 1000 berries! Seeing as the circle of life needs to continue I’d didn’t have the hissy fit I wanted to have. I’m planning on making jam and either a brandy or otherwise and will do so for my 2 adult children!

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Yay congratulations! Better to discover it now than not at all

[@MichelleLWhitney]

I have fond memories of purple fingers as a tween from the mulberries in my parents’ yard. I prefer the white mulberries for flavor 🤤. We always ate the stems-baked in pies and everything. The stems kind of disappeared into whatever you were cooking. I even remember making mulberry wine.

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Oooh Mulberry wine sounds lovely! Thank you for sharing the memory.

[@destinypeters2687]

thank you for teaching me about the mulberries.

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

You are most welcome!

[@UrbanGardeningWithD.A.Hanks14]

Mine is growing up against the house, and way over it, so it has to come down. I started with two stepladders on the ground, and then just got on the roof. I had a colander full in no time. The entire harvest, if it could be gotten, is probably 5-10 gallons or more. Once it grows back, I'll train it as a fruit tree, now that I know how delicious the fruits are.

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Totally understand. Keeping your home safe is first priority. Good luck growing it back!

[@UrbanGardeningWithD.A.Hanks14]

@@EsthersGardeningAdventures Oh, it will. This will be the umpteenth time I've done this. It was just this year, that I realized what the fruit was. This time, though, I will train it. Yeah, it's dragging on the roof and has mashed my gutter down. It needs to be taught a lesson, LOL.

[@elberbelbers]

I have a mulberry tree that my ND neighbor’s but all the branches are hanging over my yard. All the ones falling on the ground are red, so I can’t get any black ones.

[@rebeccazody1278]

Love the Queen Esther t-shirt! I never had a Mulberry tree but wish I had. You do such a good job with your videos. What gardening group are you a moderator for?

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Thank you on the T-shirt. My mother-in-law got it for me. I'm a moderator in the group "Winter sowing (vegetable gardening with Sheryl Mann)" as well as the sister group "Winter sowing flowers and Pollinator Plants." Are you a member of either of those?

[@alexh8402]

Can you store them in mason jars after frozen? Was wondering if they will all clump together in the jar.

[@briv_turnin_burnin1886]

I'd make sure you dry them first 😊 then they shouldn't clump

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

If you freeze then on a sheet you should be OK.

[@lindapaquette-pelc2849]

Try putting the frozen berries in a container with a tight lid on.......then shake them for a minute or so -- and most of the stems will fall off.

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Great tip. Thank you!

[@joebartgeraldino1176]

Give me cuttings of mulberry i will plant here in the philippines

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

I wish I could do that. Maybe you can buy a seedling in your area.

[@qixal3846]

How do I get you a cutting I have 3 huge trees and so many fall on the ground and go to waste!

[@TheSouthernSiren]

You can eat the leaves too. Make a hot, or cold green tea, grind them down and its basically matcha tea. If the leaves gets big enough use them to make steam fish rolls, which goes great with mango salsa.

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Thanks for the tips!

[@karlagrant3405]

Like your shirt! So what do you do about the ankle breakers? Do you burn them?

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

I generally leave them. In the fall, I do try to rake most of them into an unused corner of the yard where they can break down and I also put them in the compost although they take a while to breakdown.

[@vivianp5962]

I wonder if you could dehydrate them ? Hhhmmm might have to research that

[@NanaPelletier]

Those look yummy. I'm trying to figure out what type of fruit tree I want. Do you need two to get a crop? I hadn't thought of this one. Thanks for sharing. I have sugar daddy snap peas! Spotted 3 an hour ago. Winter sowing 101 with you, so thank you so much. I watched lots of videos from you and others on it but when the time came I pulled up yours to follow. I screeched when I spotted it. Then another, then a 3rd...Hubs was inside otherwise he would have thought I came across a snake.

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Wohoo!!! I'm so excited for you on the peas! As for the Mulberry trees. Not sure if one is needed nearby. This is the only 1 in our yard but it is possible there is another in a nearby yard that I'm not aware of.

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Just looked it up and there are both the kind that self pollinate and the kind that need a female/male combo nearby. So if you do plant one, try to get the everbearing kind.

[@NanaPelletier]

@@EsthersGardeningAdventures thank you for gathering that. I think I want more everbearing when I can choose. It's just hubs and I here. I'm not prepared to have a big one and done crop. Not yet anyway. I do have a deep freezer and Ziploc gags and containers though.

[@CaptainDickGs]

Yea I found mine in the woods down by the river just growing there. So I dug it up & brought it home to plant. It by itself produces boocoodles and I haven’t ever fertilized it.

[@CLifemusic]

I have two mulberries trees in my yard this will be my first year harvesting them,my question is ,they when they are ripe and dark your barley touch them they come off, but some are small,if you leave the small dark one s up there,will they get bigger or do they just grown in different sizes???

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

They will get bigger but they also do have some slight variation in size sometime I think

[@CLifemusic]

@@EsthersGardeningAdventures thanks

[@CLifemusic]

@@EsthersGardeningAdventures That's the ones at the bottom that I can reach,it looks like there is a bunch up top,got to get the ladder out So l should leave the small ones up there? So they can get bigger

[@KS-zc4jn]

If they are dark and you barely touch them and they fall off, they WILL NOT get bigger. She is mistaken. (Good video though.) You should not have to pull the berry off as it appeared she did. If you touch the berry and it falls off, it is ripe and as big as it will get. Pick faster by laying an old sheet on the ground and gently shaking it. The ripe berries will fall (plus you will get berries that are MUCH higher than you can reach by hand). Remove the ones that are not ripe. If you leave those small berries on even though they will fall if you barely touch them, they will just fall off when the wind blows and you won't be able to harvest them. Part of my mulberry tree is shaded by a humongous maple tree. The part of the tree in the shade can produce berries that are extremely small. The part that is in the sun has gigantic berries. These vast differences in size are both on the SAME mulberry tree. Enjoy your berries. I just harvested approximately 8 cups of berries today from one of my trees.

[@KS-zc4jn]

@@EsthersGardeningAdventures Dark mulberries that fall off when touched are at peak ripeness and WILL NOT continue to grow. They will just fall off if you leave them there. Shake the tree gently with an old sheet under it, you will get far more in much less time. Usually only the ripe berries will fall. If an unripe berry falls anyway, no problem, it would have fallen anyway when the wind blows.

[@TriggaTreDay]

Do don’t think Red mulberries cause diarrhea they may have done that to someone who ate too many mulberries in general at once. I love the red ones they actually taste better than the dark purple ones. I have a tree in my neighborhood that’s full of them and I pick from them all the time 😋.

[@jupiter7869]

I find that the I don't really feel or taste the stems once I cook them, so I don't bother taking them off.🙂

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

That's good to know, thank you!

[@michaelfoort2592]

What happened to the birds? Our tree is bare!

[@miasworld6602]

you can eat the stem on the mulberries it is not harmful to the human body so the stems are 100% Edible

[@controlfoodcontrolthepeopl5627]

You are harvesting them all wrong

[@emcarver8983]

Criticism without constructive advice is just criticism. Not nice. Tell her how to do it right.

[@racang]

Me thinks you talk too long.

[@EsthersGardeningAdventures]

Haha. Yes definitely true.

[@robertkeller5930]

Shake the branches before they are ripe, to dislodge twigs and debris. Makes for less sorting when you shake the tree for harvest.