I've been promising some cherry bush cuttings for friends, and I finally got down there today to get some.
Good thing, I've just about missed the time once again. But hopefully I got them just under the wire.
I have been wanting a mulberry tree for years. Whining about them this way and that way, I call it, 'Having Mulberry Whine". The thing is, they are so tricky to get what you want. Not only are there three different basic cultivars, but each one has so many variations that it's hard to know what you are going to get.
Up until last month, I'd never even seen one, or tasted any fruit. So I was really excited to do that at my friends' home then. I had debated about taking cuttings, but hadn't done anything about it yet.
I went down to take Nanking Cherry bush cuttings - don't they look luscious? They'll stay ripe on the branch for a couple of weeks, and they are soooo good!
But I was hot. Pout, pout. Even with my umbrella to shade me. We have had this weed tree in the corner of the fruit area for years. The neighbor whacked it off once, but a new shoot came back up on our side of the fence. Though it's always been in the way, it's been out of reach of the mower, so it continued to grow.
I finally noticed that it was producing quite a bit of shade. So I parked underneath it to mess with the cuttings.
Kind of a nice shape...
As I left, I realized that it looked vaguely familiar, like I'd been discussing this tree lately. I went back, expecting to see dingly balls, like Sweet Gum trees have, only it didn't.
It had mulberries!!!
Tasty ones, too! I ate the ripe ones. Here are a few green.
Michael climbed up to retrieve a few ripe ones for sending to a friend.
We continued on cutting slips to mail off. Kiwi, gooseberry, cranberry, blackberry, as well.
I'm no expert on cuttings as yet and don't expect them to make it, but I thought it was worth a try.
We need to have someone come out and harvest gooseberries. We've still got some in the freezer from last year.
Blackberry canes, filled with promise of tasty things to come.
I bet you have some very tasty wines with all of those berries. We made blackberry wine one year. It would put you on your hiney! lol. Had to be careful with that batch.
ReplyDeleteSo, are you ready for when the blackberries ripen? Looks like you may do nothing else for a week but pick blackberries :0)
ReplyDeleteYay! Mulberries and tasty ones at that.
Sending boxes full of goodies is so much fun. :o)
SFG,
ReplyDeleteYou are probably right! LOL If I drank wine, I'd be concocting all sorts of recipes. I do wish I had some kefir grains ready for juice, that's so good for us and tastes really good.
~Faith
Icebear,
ReplyDeleteThe blackberries keep us busy for about a month. Last year we had a hard time because the grass from the mower kept getting thrown up and sticking to the berries. The little berry hairs were like Velcro to the little grass hairs. This year we have been practicing as we mow, throwing the grass the other way, so hopefully we'll reduce the time down to simply picking them and freezing them.
Today is the day! I hope they arrive safe and sound, and still green.
~Faith