Mulberries in Riverside Park

The berries practically jump off the trees.

Gathering a heaping quart here in New York, where mulberries ripen several months later than in New Orleans, was the work of little more than an hour. To harvest them in even greater quantity, some folks spread a tarp and shake the berries loose with a (sheathed) pruning hook, an approach that also minimizes reddish-black fingertips. (Mulberries bruise easily.) I relied only on my own long reach — and my reflexes, to dodge the falling berries that threatened to stain me in reprisal.

Mulberries
Riverside Park, in the 150s (toward the left, in the photo below, though to find them, you'll have to do a little scouting yourself!)

Comments

[Dave Cook]

By email, an Eating In Translation reader comments:

White mulberries are cleaner. I live near Poughkeepsie, NY. There are almost as many whites as there are purple. And I like them better. On my usual walk of approximately 1 mile on the streets and roads in my community I forage at 5 trees that are on the road and "legal." They do slow me down in season.

[Dave Cook]

I found a number of white mulberries on this expedition -- not small, hard, unripe mulberries, but fully ripe, soft, sweet berries, picked from the same trees as their much more numerous finger-staining cousins. I didn't make a close study of the various trees I visited, but a quick look at the leaves suggested that Riverside Park is home to more than one species of mulberry, or perhaps one species in multiple hybrid forms.

Now, if somewhere there's trees that bear only white berries, that I'd like to see, in season.

[varickwett]

I discovered the sweetness of these berries while living in the Wyman Park area of Baltimore. I was told by two chinese Professors who lived in my bldg. that these are good for you eyes. The main food of silkworms!