Mulberry: the king of tree fruits (for pigs)

not sure if she still requires ordering over the phone, but some four years ago have been calling her to place my orders, and she’s definitely a wealth of info

and as delightful and sunny as her picture on her website :high_brightness:

1 Like

Great, Raf. Yes, I sent her an email, and she shot back a response right away, asking me to call her to place the order. Although ‘Black Beauty’ was not showing on her web site, as we were chatting, I said to her, “now, off to find ‘Black Beauty’, then I will have two really superlative mulberry cultivars.” She said, “Well, I also have ‘Black Beauty’ here, too, would you like me to add one to your order?” So, I was able to get both trees in one order. Very pleased. And, very good to know she will be a great resource if I have any further questions about mulberries, besides all of our great and knowledgeable folks here! Mulberries are pretty carefree here, as long as you can keep the birds out of the trees.

happy for you! You can’t possibly go wrong with those. If i were a billionaire will be buying everyone with a yard in america either a noir or a black beauty if situated in pacific coast states or southwest, or a dwarf gerardi or illnois everbearing if one lives in colder regions elsewhere.
mulberries are as pesticide-free as weeds, and approximate figs-- their relatives, in being water-wise.

retrieved the following pic from my archives, which Ms lucille sent me many years ago. It is her then ~12 year-old noir in winter, which i get a bit jealous about since mine has not grown as fast.

it is the gnarly dark tree in the foreground.

Oh wow. Okay, so Noir is going to need pruning, but no worries, I’m pretty handy with a pair of Felcos. Very excited to have these two new fruit trees in my yard. My wonderful, wonderful hubby just went through most of our sprinkling system, and has fixed some serious issues. It is an aging system - about 12 years old - some many of the heads are failing, and of course our here, any drip lines out on the surface can get chewed through by rodents. So, the slope where I plan on planting the mulberries, and my fig cuttings is all fixed, now. And, have found 3 fig volunteers in our trapsing around the yard. 2 for sure are Violette de Bordeaux, and I think the other one may be a Panache. So, digging those up this evening, and potting them up. I’ll let them recover, then give them to neighbors to plant.

‘Black Beauty’ mulberry has been on my maybe list for as long as I’ve been keeping fruit tree lists. L.E Cooke carries it in their catalog, and designates it as the #2 mulberry for my area (behind Pakistan). I hesitate because it harvests in that June-July window when I’m overrun with excellent fruit already.

how i wish i’d actually have the need for shears on my blac mulberries! Nigra’s literally add just ~6" tall and wide every year where am at.

they do fruit quite densely, so any additional branches they accumulate yearly, even if each is a mere 6" long is good enough for me.

in effect, have come to terms that am no longer growing them for myself, but more as a fruit-bearing heirloom for the younger generations lol!

as for ‘king of fruits for pigs’, mulberries are mere pretenders–
as this mulberry cousin probably clinches it
again, with most tropical fruits, this was depicted unfairly by the journalist whose fruit vocabulary seems limited to apples/plums/peaches, as there are many excellent cultivars of jacfruit which don’t smell of ‘rotting onions’
if you live in the warmer parts of so cal, hawaii, or florida, this is a must-have.
and as with many members of the fig family, it is drought-tolerant, does not require pesticides, and far more nutritious than apples or peaches.

Yeah, I like to eat Jackfruit. It can be found in Asian market for $1.00-$1.50 per pound. It is sweet and delicious. The boiled seeds tasted like water caltrop.

Anyone try this type? Have it on my list to get this year as I do not want a massive tree nor the commitment to keep it small. Below statement is from Bay Laurel Nursery, Atascadero, Ca.

Mulberry, Dwarf Bush (Morus nigra sp.)
Continuously produces sweet, blackberry-like fruit throughout the season. A great choice for containers. Mature height is six to eight feet in the ground. Zones 5 to 11. Self-fruitful. Potted.

Interesting, Don’t know Morus Nigra can grow in zone 5. Let me know how it grows and fruits

you won’t be disappointed, especially if growing them in hot and dry regions. They grow so slooooowly.

it is a meal in itself. It is one of the few fruits in the league of avocados, approaching an almost complete nutritional profile(especially when eating the seeds of jacfruit as well)–protein, vitamins, minerals etc.
i could have jacfruit pulp and seeds for dinner and nothing more!
most other fruits are much less dense in overall nutrition.

Every year it starts out on my list and gets chopped. This year it will stay.

Just hope it stays the size they state. :slight_smile:

I am on the opposite, my list grows till run out of budget :flushed: Hopefully, this year I will buy what is on the list, I am running out of room. :grin:

Jennifer, that nigra sp. could be “Black Beauty” which is bush-like and naturally stays compact. That’s why I ordered it.

https://www.willisorchards.com/product/black-beauty-mulberry-tree#.Vfb-abdGzuM

i have not tried ordering from willis orchards, but i remember coming across bad reviews, specifically-- wrong species being sold as Morus nigra’s.

were you pertaining to jacfruit, or pertaining to blac muberries?
i see you live in warm and sunny cali, and you can try growing both!

juju, I was just using their web description for Jennifer. I actually got my 2 morus nigras from Lucille at Whitman farms, http://www.whitmanfarms.com. That and ‘Noir de Spain’. ‘Black Beauty’ wasn’t listed as available on their site, but Lucille said she had them, so I was able to order both cultivars I wanted at one place, which is a great place to order from, too!

Just the mulberries juju…I will check out the jacfruit. :smile:

oh yes, you did, and i’ve forgotten. And really glad you ordered from Ms lucille!

hope i don’t sound harsh, but the specimen depicted by willisorchards’ website is not a Morus nigra, but an alba or alba cross. True nigra’s don’t have long peduncles.