Mulberry Efficiency Expert

Longtime readers of this blog will know that, every June, I go nuts when the local mulberries make their appearance. A couple of blocks from my house, there is a plethora of mulberry trees, so much that some dude tried to start a silk industry in the Bronx (PDF) last century. Well, the first ripe mulberries have made an appearance this week, and I have been grabbing the few, precious fructose-bombs I have encountered.

This year, though, I am prepared for "peak mulberry"... I bought a dropcloth so I can harvest hundreds of mulberries with little effort. Ripe mulberries will drop off the tree with the merest jostle- I plan on spreading the dropcloth under a likely tree and shaking the individual branches until the delicious mulberries drop down. I used to consider this approach less "sporting", but I think I can be greedy in this regard. I don't see too many other people taking advantage of the bounty that's right in front of them every June.

Now I need to get my hands on a "food grade" bucket with a lid. Luckily, there's a big foodservice outlet not too far from home and my principal mulberry patch (to be completely candid, I've staked out mulberry trees all over the county, from my home up to my workplace).