Purple Concoctions

by Joan McKee
illustrated by Betty Grace

Mulberries are ripe for the picking and make fun, tasty summer treats.

Every summer songbirds flock to mulberry trees to gulp down juicy, purple berries. Many different types of mammals, including coyotes, raccoons and foxes also enjoy them. But why should these wild critters have all the fun? Kids like mulberries, too, either right off the tree or cooked up in the kitchen.

Where mulberries grow

Whether you live in the city or the country, you probably have a mulberry tree near you-perhaps in your own backyard. Red mulberry trees are the only mulberry species native to Missouri. The fruit is red before it is ready to eat. The birds-and people, too-like to wait until the fruit is purple, because then it is juicy and sweet.

When you find one mulberry tree, you probably will find more in the area. Each section on each berry contains a tiny seed. When birds or animals eat the berries, they distribute the seeds wherever they leave droppings. Raccoons and coyotes often leave evidence of their nightly mulberry feasts in the form of droppings filled with mulberry seeds.

Easy pickings

One way to pick mulberries is to climb the tree, but sometimes it's hard to pick and hold on at the same time. Here's a simple solution:

Ask an adult for an old sheet. Tell them it will be stained purple by the end of the day.

Take the adult-approved sheet under the berry-laden mulberry tree, then shake the limbs. The ripe berries will tumble onto the sheet, and all you have to do is pick them up. Don't pick up the bugs that litter the sheet. Look for worms, lightning bugs and spiders that often spend time in the tree.

Warning: Mulberries will stain your clothes, shoes and skin. Wear old clothes or prepare to be reminded of your berry-picking days next time you wear the same clothes. (Sometimes the stains come out if you wash the clothes right away, but don't count on it.)

Dying to be purple

Next, place the berries in a bowl of water to wash them. If you see a green stem that moves, it might be a worm. Discard the worm and any other bugs before rinsing the berries and draining off the water.

Then carefully pinch off each green stem. By the time you finish, your fingers will be stained purple.

Let's eat

Mockingbirds prefer their mulberries plain, but it's probably because they haven't tried these delectable treats.

Mulberry Milkshake Madness

2 cups vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup milk
1 cup mulberries

Mix all the ingredients in a blender until they are purple.
Pour into glasses, grab a straw and sip.
(For more slurpable shakes, add more milk.)

1 3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup washed mulberries

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place a sifter in a bowl. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
3. In another bowl, beat the egg, then stir in the milk and oil.
4. Next add the egg mixture to the bowl with the flour. Stir quickly a few times until the flour is moist.
5. Add the mulberries carefully. Stir gently.
6. Grease each cup of the muffin tin.
7. Pour the muffin mix in the cups until they are about 2/3 full.
8. Bake for about 25 minutes.

Purple Passion Pancakes

1 1/4 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup mulberries
Butter or oil for cooking
Powdered sugar

1. Place a sifter in a bowl. Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
2. In another bowl, beat the egg, then add milk and oil. Stir.
3. Add the egg mixture to the bowl with the flour. Stir until the flour is moist.
4. Heat some butter or oil in a skillet. When hot, pour batter into skillet. Drop mulberries on top of pancakes while they cook.
5. When the bottom of the pancake is brown, turn it over and cook on other side.
6. Top with more mulberries, powdered sugar and melted butter.

Makes 6 to 8 pancakes.

How to stay out of mulberry-trouble

• Ask an adult before you use the stove.
• Wear old clothes and shoes when picking and cooking berries.
• Share your purple concoctions with your adults.

Sew what?

You may see a mulberry tree with white or pink fruit, especially if you live in town. This is the white mulberry, which came from Asia. Its leaves are a favorite food of the silkworm. These worms, as their name implies, produce silk. Silkworms won't eat leaves of red mulberries, so people brought the Asian trees to the United States many years ago to try to raise silkworms here.

Red mulberry leaves weren't helpful in making silk, but Choctaw Indian women wove the inner bark from the tree's young shoots to make cloaks. It was a long, hard process, which involved beating and drying the shoots until only threads remained.

People don't wear clothes made from mulberry trees today, although many people accidently stain their clothes with them: Watch where you sit during berry season.

Joan McKee stained her prized pair of Davy Crockett moccasins while eating mulberries in her Aunt Nadine's tree.