Mulberry Trees

One of my memories that stand out to me of when we lived in Mechanicsburg, PA, when I was about four and five years old, was walking along the railroad tracks and picking mulberries, which we then took home to eat with sugar and I think some milk. After we moved to Kansas, I sometimes found some to eat along former farmlands, one by a vacant lot near our apartment complex in Shawnee and others near our Lenexa home.

This is a tree by a path than runs through Madison's Rennebohm Park, about a ten-minute walk from my apartment there. Madison allows foraging of fruit from city parks, but I make sure to pick just a small number so as not to hog them. Bicyclists, runners, and walkers go by and stop to eat some. The stains on the path are a useful sign that there's a mulberry tree, although that's one reason homeowners should take care where they plant them.

Even though this park has been close to me for about eight years, I've rarely walked through it. Whenever I head out to Hilldale Mall or Sequoya Library, I usually walk along Sheboygan Avenue.

Promoting fruit tree plantings on public lands for harvesting by anyone is becoming more common. The Baltimore Orchard Project runs a Mulberry Madness Festival throughout June to encourage the eating of mulberries. The city of Madison has started an Edible Landscapes program, which includes allowing and encouraging people to plant something edible on terraces (the strips of land between sidewalks and streets).

The view  from Segoe Road of the eastern side with evergreens when covered with snow reminds me of idealized winter scenes of my childhood, especially the cover of the "Christmas with Chet Atkins" album. I only have photos of this view without snow, as in the picture below taken from the sidewalk.