Sweet and Juicy

When I first moved out to the farm 6 years ago, my Muddy Hubby told me we had a Mulberry Tree, he waved vaguely in the direction of some trees outside our house yard and told me there was a pipe running under the road that I could push the hose through to water it, if I wanted to. For the first year or so I didn't really take much notice, I was busy working full time and then I had a Baby number 1 which turned my world upside down. Occasionally Muddy Hubby would bring in a few Mulberries and it would remind me it was there and I really needed to water it. THEN......Muddy Hubby accidentally sprayed it with chemical and we thought the tree was lost to us, but low and behold it came back to life!

Daughter Number 3, and our resurrected Mulberry Tree

In the meantime we had also planted a new Mulberry tree in our Orchard, which over the last couple of years has really begun to fruit well. So now we have not one but Two Mulberry Trees, both of which are producing an abundance of Mulberries at the moment, and when I say abundance I mean it. We have picked buckets full of them, and that's not including the ones the kids and Muddy Hubby stuff in their mouth while we're picking. I have had to be a bit more easy going than I like to be when it comes to cleanliness and Mulberries, they go hand in hand with purple stains, and as much as I wince each time we go picking, Muddy Hubby reminds me 'we only have them for a month or so each year, and they're so much fun' and he's right, but he's also not the one doing all the washing!!

Our newest Mulberry Tree

My kitchen benches have taken a hammering as well (not that you'd really notice as they're  a bit old and worn anyway) as I rinse the Mulberries and dry them on paper towel and the purple juice runs through to the bench as I painstakingly cut off all the little stems before freezing or cooking with them. If anyone knows a better way to rinse or to remove the stems I am more than open to ideas!! But it's all in the name of a good cause and a full belly. My favourite recipe at the moment is the Mulberry and Cinnamon Cake which I have been making once a week which my BFF Lauzie put me onto she got it from this site: Morsels and Musings I didn't put as much ground Almond in and I added coconut and it is delicious! I burnt it a little bit (I'm not really much of a baker or a cook) but it still tasted yummy and wasn't as much of a disaster as my attempt at Mulberry Pie, so it's all good. And as my Number 3 Daughter toddles off for another feast of Mulberries I take another deep breath and remind myself they only last such a short time, Thank God for Napisan!

Mulberry and Cinnamon Cake