mulberries are disappointing

[chrisdb]

I'd always heard of how amazing mulberries were, and almost planted one as a consequence. But having tastes some I'm glad I didn't... we visited my mother-in-law in the south of Spain and she has several young trees, but the fruit was bland, watery and generally not very nice, nothing like the sweet juiciness that everyone else describes.

Does my mother-in-law have the only disgusting mulberries on the planet, or is the fruit generally overrated?

[veggiechicken]

Were they red or white mulberries?

[chrisdb]

Some trees had black fruit and some had white. The taste was identical. Other than that the trees looked identical and I don't know enough to tell apart different species of mulberry. She did plant them for the fruit though so I'd assume they're supposed to taste nice.

[boundtothesoil]

Does my mother-in-law have the only disgusting mulberries on the planet, or is the fruit generally overrated?

I have a 20 year old largish mulberry tree/bush and over the years have come to view it as overrated, both in terms of taste/usefulness and in terms of yield per square meter of space taken up. I should have put two apple trees on MM106 rootstocks in the same space. I've used the mulberries for jam and jelly and neither would make my 'top twenty' list of preserves with respect to taste. That said, I haven't the heart to cut it down.

[Kirk]

Sometimes fruit is difficult.
Medlars are in effect left to go over-ripe before theyare used.
I had an asian pear and they had to be picked and eaten when they seemed under ripe, if they became at all "ripe" they were bland and awful to eat.

Not sure aout the fruit of a Mulbery but one variety is for silk moths.

[DannyK]

A while back I tried some mulberries from a tree in Chelsea Physic garden. They were very good.

I made a mistake of buying an "Illinois Everbearing". The fruit was insipid and didn't live up to description. Possibly a poor selection, but birds loved it. Now a stump.

Planted a "Wellington" last year, which looks as if it will fruit this year.

Interesting info at MULBERRY Fruit Facts

Don't condemn them out of hand. Just think what if your opinion of apples was based on a crap supermarket Golden Delicious rather than a Cox!

[Philthy]

I love mulberries. They'd be in my top 5 list of soft fruits.
To be fair I've only tried one type of fruit off of one specimen of tree. But it was plump, juicy, flavoursome, and an equal balance of tart and sweet.
Based on the above experiences, the tree type, age, and location must make a difference. The one I am referring to was a Black mulberry (don't know the exact strain), 40+ years old, growing in full sun. Don't recall the soil type. It wasn't fed or mulched at all. The branches hung quite low to the ground, and bluebells grew underneath it rather than grass.
The crop wasn't heavy. Also, the berries were best picked from the tree. I believe official advice is to lay a sheet on the ground and shake the branches over it. In my albeit limited experience I found that the level of ripeness needed for the berries to fall off on their own meant they were past their best ie a bit soft and mushy, and more sweet.
They don't keep for very long in their natural state in the fridge. Freezing ruins them as they're too watery.

[kris1960]

Have been watching this thread with interest and trepidation- I planted a mulberry tree at the allotment which I was given for christmas. Its leaves are just forming and it looks quite healthy. I am Australian and have very fond memories of the big,luscious berries. I had no idea that there were any tastless mulberries.