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Resilient surprises

29/5/2019

8 Comments

 
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Early Autumn (March 27) the rain came, too late
RIP mulberry tree, down in the main gully. I thought of all the places you would thrive, it's where all the water flowed. You grew faithfully, like a weed, for many years. But we were about to learn something new in this landscape together. When it doesn't rain for months on end, then summer comes and we miss our usual rainfall too - well, the gully doesn't capture water. At all.

Like everything else, you dried-up like a fragile husk. I could only stand-by and watch all those years fade, as you did. First, the leaves dropped. Then the branches, snapped.

When the rain finally came, in early Autumn, I went down to the gully, to take a picture of your husk. There was no sign of life. You were gone. I had to admit defeat.  This landscape had proven, once again, how brutal it could be.
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A month later (April 23)
But then life is full of surprises, isn't it? I guess your husk, was really a cocoon. It was just waiting for the right time, for you to emerge again. You surprised me, mulberry tree. I knew you were the toughest edible on our slopes. Your older, sister tree (closer to the house) had already taught me that.

But I had never seen a mulberry, come back from the dead, like you had! Your well-earned reputation, has even greater kudos now. If you can make it through this brutal summer, I think you're in the clear for making it, permanently. 
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2 months, back from the dead (May 12)
My hope has been rekindled, in the endurance of mulberry trees again. I was worried for a few months though! I haven't had a lot of success with anything "berry", in the landscape. Strawberries in pots can produce, but strawberries in the ground, end up dying. Forget blueberries too. There's just not enough, natural rainfall. 

My fallback, was the magnificent mulberry tree. A perennial, with a thick, moisture- filled trunk. It's the only berry I've managed to cultivate, in this particular, semi-arid climate. On natural rainfall, it's proven itself a worthy candidate.
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Natural pruning
On the upside, all the deadwood is above our heads. So the new growth and subsequent berries, will be easily harvested within arms length. We're planning to cut the deadwood off, and mulch the tree with it. So we should be back in business, for berry production, come this Spring.

With the enormous trunk and all that natural pruning, I'm expecting the berries to be rather large. Compared to the sister tree, which is about five times as big and hardly pruned at all. 
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Sister mulberry (planted 2010)
This tree is about nine-years old now. Five-years older, than the Lazarus mulberry. I could prune it for larger, more accessible berries too, but I value it as a shade tree. Plus I don't mind the native birds, scavenging berries at the very top. As they reduce pest loads too.

So I learned a long time ago, mulberries can withstand the elements here. One thing they cannot do though, is produce berries, without moisture.  So when we got a very small berry harvest in Spring, I figured that would be it for the rest of the season. Especially after summer hit, and killed a lot of fruit trees. I considered myself fortunate, old-faithful was still standing. 
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Purple fingers
But life is always, so full of surprises, isn't it? Even though summer was a killer, Lazarus came back from the dead, and the sister tree, came back with a vengeance. Birds were gorging on berries, and they simply covered the ground. How was such abundance, even possible? Didn't the drought kill all my hopes of a fruit harvest?

The truly magnificent mulberry, is the most resilient edible tree, I've ever had the pleasure of growing. I do have plans for adding more! Stay tuned though, for part two, of resilient surprises. Because there was another pair of fruit trees, which totally blew me away too!
8 Comments
Chel link
29/5/2019 08:12:58 pm

Goodness me, Chris...that is one amazing tree and how nice that you got such a pleasant surprise when it looked as if it was dead. I haven't been down the back to see how our mulberry is doing. It is as old as the hills and always seem to produce fruit regardless of the weather. Of course we have more rain here than you do and the heat isn't as bad. I still have some mulberries in the freezer and was thinking today that it was time to make a mulberry pie.

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Chris@gullygrove
29/5/2019 09:13:46 pm

Oh, pie! Yum!! I was thinking jam myself. Either way, mulberries do produce a lot, once established. Your tree sounds magnificent. There's a knarly old mulberry near my son's school too. Must be well over a decade old. I don't know if someone deliberately planted it, but it's near a run-off trench. Remarkably survived the last flood.

Getting them established, is the challenge. Enjoy your pie. :)

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Bev link
30/5/2019 12:34:08 pm

Well, that is amazing! I've not had anything like that happen to a dead-looking fruit tree. Dead is dead here for them. The natives can shoot again like that, but then that's what most of the fire-adapted ones do after a fire.

I've just planted a white mulberry I bought at Bunnings. The label said "white", but on closer inspection it said fruit can be anywhere from white to pinkish to black ?? I wanted the traditional 'black' variety but they didn't have one. Who knows what this one will do if it survives?

So happy for you. I know you liked those mulberries. :-)

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Chris@gullygrove
30/5/2019 02:22:14 pm

Snap! I was checking out the fruit trees in Bunnings too, and saw the white mulberry. I didn't buy it though. As I'm chasing a dwarf black mulberry, to try out. Would love to hear how yours ends up tasting like though. They're pretty quick to produce. An all-round, amazing tree. Old-faithful sends kudos, to your new white mulberry - may it live long, and prosper!

I was completely blown away, when I saw what survived the drought! I lost some stuff too. But you learn every growing season something new. :)

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Leigh link
3/6/2019 12:33:05 am

What a relief it must have been to see those new mulberry leaves! I have one mulberry that has done the same thing, and it's on a tough piece of ground as well. My other mulberry, planted next to the compost bins in the shade in the chicken yard is doing much better. Your mulberries look marvelous. Since my trees are still young, I just hope I can get a handful this year.

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Chris@gullygrove
8/6/2019 03:38:22 pm

A shock, and a relief to see the leaves emerge again, Leigh. Wasn't expecting it, but oh-so-wonderful when it happened. In my experience, mulberries are quick to produce. They just need some moisture to trigger it, when it starts to warm up. And some sunshine.

I've had berries emerge from a cutting I took, in it's second year. So you should see some fruits this year. If the birds don't get them first, lol.

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Nicole link
7/6/2019 02:54:25 pm

Mother Nature surprises me every day, sometimes they are good like your mulberry or not so good when your dam dries up.
We put in a 3 year old mulberry the first year here but have yet to get any fruit. I hope you get a great harvest come spring.
Apple and mulberry jam is lovely.
I have 10 blueberry bushes, they do very well here as they like the frost.

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Chris@gullygrove
8/6/2019 03:47:22 pm

Thanks for the suggestion of apple and mulberry jam, Nicole. Sounds delicious! Strange your mulberry is not bearing at that age. You can give it a heavy prune, and see if that triggers fruiting. At this time of year though, it's probably gone dormant. Maybe wait to see if berries emerge in spring, and prune before summer, if not.

I love blueberries. Tried growing them here, but just haven't found the right micro-climate. They're also more water hungry, which at certain times of the year, I can't always spare. But love to hear when others succeed.

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