Hi Zendog,
My ‘Gerardi’ produced a handful of fruit in late summer/early fall the year it was planted. It produced a bit more fruit in year 2. I had pruned back a good amount of new growth between years 1 and 2, and i figured that accounted for the small year 2 harvest.
I counted buds on the new growth of three branches (ranging in length from 17 to 28") and came up with an average of 12.7 buds per foot. So pretty tight spacing in the new growth. But the buds are spaced out quite a bit more on the older growth (3 or 4 buds per foot).
Here’s a couple of photos of some of the new growth (there are a few buds on the opposite side of the branches that aren’t visible in the photos).
I also notice that my dwarf everbearing mulberry leafs out a couple of weeks earlier. My ‘Gerardi’ buds are swelling and just about ready to expand now.
From what i remember, the fruits were about medium size. Significantly smaller/shorter than my best wild red mulberries. I’ll get some photos of the fruit when they come.