The mulberry tree belongs to the Morus genus that consists of about 12 species found over Mediterranean and north temperate regions with two being native to North America. The commonly cultivated black mulberry comes from an ancient line which has now been introduced into many countries of the world. It is believed to have been in cultivation for over 5000 years. It has variable leaf forms.

It produces a delicious fruit which is plentiful in summer and that ripens over a period long enough to enjoy the harvest for some weeks as the green berries mature to red or black. It is a notoriously difficult fruit to harvest, as are all the soft berry fruits, so there is ample scope for an enterprising soul to consider a way of developing an easier and efficient harvest and offering a new commercial crop.

In home gardens mulberry picking is enjoyed by children who are capable of exploring to seek to enjoy the sweet rewards as well as picking an amount for common consumption. However, they should be tutored to use the green, inedible fruit to rub away the persistent stains from the ripe fruit.

The White Mulberry, Morus alba is known as Sang Ye in China where it originated. It was introduced into Europe about 1434 from the Levant where it was cultivated mainly for the purpose of providing food for silkworms. It was introduced and is now naturalised in the U.S. providing an important food for wildlife. In Australian gardens it is welcome as a tasty home fruit, sweet and marketable also. The leaves when fed to silkworms produce a light yellow silk.

The tender young leaves are edible in small quantities when fresh or can be cooked as spinach. The leaves are used medicinally for treatment of fever and externally for ringworm. The root skin provides a medicine for bronchitis. The fruits which vary from pink to deep red/black are delicious to eat and in China it is regularly recommended to relieve insomnia, flu, high blood pressure, vertigo and other complaints. Fruit contains vitamins a B1, B2 and C.

Texas Mulberry or Morus microphylla grows as a small tree in the canyons of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona where it was once cultivated by Indians of the area and it is still considered a food source.

White Mulberry is a native of France Morus multicaulis

Black Mulberry, English Mulberry Morus nigra originated in Iran and known in antiquity when it was apparently much appreciated for its large, sweet juicy fruit. This is the species preferred by consumers large succulent fruits are delicious and sweeter, more flavoursome than the white mulberry. The unripe fruit when crushed, removes the stains from the ripe and often messy fruit. The leaves produce a lovely golden silk thread when fed to silkworms.

Red Mulberry, Morus rubra is a native of Nth America found from Vermont to Sth Dakota and south to Florida. Finely toothed leaves are coated with soft down in autumn. Red fruits are of inferior quality.

The Black Mulberry Morus nigra is often known as the English Mulberry for the following reason. In England James I tried to introduce a new silk industry into England. He issued a Royal edict recommending the cultivation of silkworms and urging the Shires to buy and distribute 10,000 mulberry plants of Morus nigra to all who would sow them, only to be advised that it was the wrong species of mulberry and the enterprise was abandoned. That is the reason that there are many ancient Black Mulberry trees still existing in England and very few old White ones. Regrettably, it was later discovered that both species of mulberry were used in the orient for silk.

Shakespeare’s mentions a mulberry - a Black Mulberry - and that it was not suitable for rearing silkworms, so reflecting the general disappointment of the times.

There is one surviving Mulberry tree in the private grounds of Buckingham Palace to this day. It still is bearing but in no way remarkable in size or spread.

Mulberry leaf is an old cottage remedy for ringworm. A very important purpose of the fruit is as a food supplement in the diet of heart patients, with some remarkable beneficial results.

For those who wish to introduce the Australian home hobby for children by keeping a few silkworms it can offer a fascinating and interesting experience for both infants and parents. Unfortunately there is little ultimate pleasure to be had from the silk produced, but it is certainly an exercise in nature studies!

It would be best to be sure of adequate supply of leaves by having planted your own trees in the yard, or at least enquire about a reliable and close alternative source. The leaves are best when fresh but keep for a little time in the fridge. It may be interesting for those unfamiliar with silkworm culture to know that if mulberry leaves for any reason are not available, a temporary diet of beetroot leaves will produce pink tinted silk and lettuce leaves will tend to give lemon coloured thread.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Gardening

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Schefflera is a tropical plant that is commonly kept as an indoor plant. They are sold in many different varieties today and can even be kept as a bonsai tree! The Schefflera is relatively easy to care for and makes a great house plant.

The Schefflera is native to Malaysia and is often referred to as the umbrella tree. There are two main varieties of this tree, the Arboricola and the Actinophylla. The Arboricola is the most common type that is kept today and is found in several different forms. The regular Arboricola just has the normal green leaves. The Arboricola Renate has green leaves, but they are rippled. The Arboricola Gold Capella has green leaves as well as yellow or gold leaves. The Arboricola Trinette has green leaves and cream leaves. New varieties of this plant are constantly being introduced so you are bound to see other types as well.

The Schefflera needs lots of light to grow, but it must not be kept in direct sunlight. During the summer, it is especially important that no direct sun reaches the plant, even through the windows. Windows can make the sun even more dangerous. If kept in direct sun, the leaves of this plant will get burned.

It is important that you do not over water this plant or it will develop root rot. Only water it when the soil is dry. You can water this plant from the top or the bottom. If you water from the bottom, put the pot in water for about ten minutes and the plant will take up the water that it needs. If you water from the top, water it until the water drains through the bottom. If the leaves are turning black, this means that the soil is staying too wet. If the leaves are wrinkling up, then the plant is too dry.

Because this is a tropical plant, it needs to have moisture in the air. You can mist the leaves regularly to provide water but often this is not enough. This plant is used to a very humid environment and you will need to supply this water. The best way to create the humidity for your plant is to get a tray and put some pebbles and water in it. Then set your plant on the pebbles. Make sure that the level of the water is below the level of the pebbles and that your plant is not sitting in water. The water will evaporate and the leaves will get the moisture they need.

Make sure you use a good quality soil that contains plenty of nutrients. You should also use fertilizer according to the instructions on the package. If you want to make sure your leaves do not turn yellow, you can add some liquid iron two to three times a year.

The Schefflera is very prone to getting mites. You need to clean the leaves regularly to prevent this. They especially like to live on the underside of the leaves, so be sure you check there. Cleaning the leaves will also prevent dust build up and allow the sun to adequately reach the leaves. To clean it, use a warm, damp washcloth.

This plant is not that hard to keep. The main things to remember are: don’t keep the plant wet, place the plant in a bright area and watch out for mites. Also, don’t be scared to prune the Schefflera. It will do fine after pruning.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Gardening

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If you are here you are interested in gardening and maybe using and reusing as many of the resources that you have in your plot already. This really does not depend on the area that you play with. It may be just a few metres or it maybe quite a large area.

This is just by way of an introduction and a little of where we will focus in the future. There are many advantages being a ‘gardener’ however you qualify yourself. One of the most important is that you get to taste the ‘fruits’ of your labour. How elegant and tasty is something that you have toiled with your own hands to produce and then allowed it to ripen in the sun or mature in the ground to just the right degree? How different is the store bought item. I would say ‘alternative’ but that is a poor choice of word I think.

I began my working life as a farmer doing the usual thing of using the soil as a mechanical device to hold up the plants while applying the ‘nutrients’ out of bags of material that had once been the exudate of birds. I went on like this for some time and over a period of years the penny began to drop.

The earth is short on many resources. The best option is to grow food as close as possible to where people live. The first person to begin with is you. The buck begins with you and me and what we can do for ourselves for starters and others after that. Sounds selfish and if you do not look after yourself then how can you look after anyone else. Even the sprouting of seeds in a jar to give you some fresh greens is a great beginning.

Parallel with the above is the great health benefit of just being around plants. They do not talk back and take kindly to nurturing. Gardening can be done as a singular occupation or in a delightful group way. It is written that the Pythagoreans spent much time in their gardens and it was deemed as part of the overall balance of learning.

This site is not about being purist this or that. It is about doing what you can with what you have. If you can minimize the use of fertilizers, herbicides and insecticide then this is a great start. If on the other hand you have the willingness to look at a whole system and liken it to the natural balance found in a forest then all the better. I do really believe that there is no absolute ‘best’ way of doing anything. However if we consciously choose to do our best in keeping an open mind then this will pay great dividends at many levels.

Go Gardeners, Go!

Author: Peter Boyd Peter spent around 20 years working in a world class soils research facility in Australia. He learned many things within that environment and many more outside in the environmentally aware area. Some of these things are stated at his site:

http://www.choicesforwealth.net/sustainable-gardening

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