I imagine that growing up in England you perhaps have lovely memories of climbing up apple trees, in Brazil you might remember the size of the freaking ginormous avocados you grow there, and Japan maybe your childhood memory is spinning under those spectacular cherry blossom trees.
For me, my special childhood tree was the huge mulberry at the top of our cul-de-sac street.
Every afternoon, every weekend, every holiday, all the kids in our street used to ride their bikes to the mulberry tree, climb up, take a seat, and EAT.
With the exception of poor Josh who wasn't allowed past house number 24.
I have such fabulous memories of this tree. Biting into the fresh, juicy flesh of a ripe berry, stained hands and lemon juice, hot mulberry sauce on ice cream, silkworms spinning their cocoons, simple, natural things, the sort of wonderful memories that are only made in childhood.
I do recall that it all came crashing down one day though. I must have been a bit older and for some reason, instead of putting the mulberry straight into my mouth, I bit it in half and took a look at it. I saw a white grub inside and my trust in fresh fruit has never been the same since.
Nonetheless, I got a good few years in.
When I came across this tree, all those lovely thoughts came back to me, even the grub, and I knew it was right for the letter M.
I do so hope that this tree will give the boys some special memories to look back on.
16 comments:
That's a lovely memory except for the grub. I hope the tree grows fast enough to provide seats for the boys.
Hazel, it's a dwarf tree... I should have mentioned that above, but it would have kind of ruined the story!
We have two full size weeping mulberry trees that just keep getting bigger,one is a real monster.I love how in winter it looks a bit spooky and how when my sisters 2 iggys (italian greyhounds) come to visit all 4 really do run round and round the mulbery bush, it's a funny sight! never heard of a dwarf though.
The tale of the grub could have been worse - you might have seen HALF a grub in the fruit...
I grew up in Malaysia, and my first memories of trees are to do with Mahogany (huge and powerful) and Flame of The Forest (strikingly decorative). We also had Jacaranda. And Mango; and Coconut; and Papaya. I expect you have most of these where you live too, don't you?
My favourite climbing tree in our yard was the apricot tree..........
Poor Josh......I hope he didn't carry that into adulthood. Or better still, he may have planted a Mulberry bush in his backyard years ago....
Wow, silkworms.....
That's fabulous GT, I saw you talked about your mulberry on your blog, perhaps the dogs are creating their own happy childhood memories.
Mark you come up with a little surprise every day, what was your family doing in Malaysia? Jacaranda, mango and papaya (paw paw here) are everywhere in Brisbane. Flame of the Forest I think is a poinciana, they are also everywhere, I have an enormous one in my backyard. Mahogany I'm not sure about, mahogany gum yes, but that might not be the same.
Suzanne I'll bet your mother was please about the apricot tree, good girl not choosing a low stain fruit!
Ali; I lived in Malaya for several years when I was young. My Dad had emigated from the UK in the Great Depression of the 1930s, and he returned to Malaya after fighting in the Second World War. I was sent home to boarding school when I was 7 years old, returning at intervals for school holidays. I'm currently in the middle of transferring a load of 35mm slides belonging to my Dad to digital pictures - hence "Fluffy"... We recently bought a device called Slides2PC, which is brilliant for this.
The neighbors have a huge mulberry tree. We always know when the fruit is ripe without needing to visit because there is purple bird poo all over our yard.
Huge macrocarpa trees all over our place - big enough to hold a whole tribe of children with no need to build a tree hut in them, the branches were like floors. I wonder if they would still seem so huge if I went back and looked at them now?
Glad to hear you haven't been washed away.
How fabulous that you can preserve his photos, I hope they'll feature a bit on your blog. Boarding school hey... can't imagine that at 7 years old, it seems so awfully young to be away from your family.
I have a similar childhood mulberry story... minus the grubs. We used to climb on the roof of one of the homes in our neighborhood and sit on it while savoring the easy-to-reach fruit. Our predicament arose when the woman who owned the house thought that we were up there trying to spy on her in the shower. We weren't, but she chased us away all the same. I don't think she even knew mulberries were edible.
That's funny Eliza, if kids tried to spy on me in the shower I think I'd either buy a curtain or wiggle my bottom at them.
I planted a Mulberry sapling in our small garden last year, right alonside my nursery beds. It is three foot high, but from the sounds of it I should allow for a lot of growth. Perhaps I should move it sooner rather than later. Interestingly you mention silkworms. The ones in the UK don't support silkworms, even though that was the reason they were imported and planted by order of the king! The fruit I have never tasted but I'm looking forward to it - all the more now.
I had no idea you didn't have silkworms on your mulberry trees in the UK, I'll bet the king chucked a tantie over that! They can grow into big trees, but there are some around my area that are more like big bushes than trees, so perhaps you can keep them small with trimming.
Mine is a dwarf variety, so I am hoping for a nice compact tree, otherwise I'll have to move it too.
I moved my Mulberry tree in it's second year... which was no easy feat! and the exertion must have altered my mind completely as I moved the jolly thing right next to my cloths line... DUMB! (groan). Now I find myself with a very happy, healthy mulberry tree that throws very dark purple stains all over my washing twice a year (groan again)... but on the flip side - DAM the fruit is good!
Oh that is just fabulous, what a winning position!
I'd have loved to have seen the look on your face when you realised what you'd done...
Any tips for some happy healthy fruit?
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