Mulberry Jelly and an Honor Flight

My son Bob and his beautiful wife Kim, live in a gorgeous old home that has been in her dads family for over 60+ years. They live in the upper half and Kim’s grandpa lives in the lower half. He is 87+ years old so they help him out, even though he is really quite independent. I love talking to older people, listening to them talk about the past and the lives that they have lived.

Old Glory Honor Flight

Grandpa is a WW II Veteran and recently took part in the  Old Glory Honor Flight. Old Glory Honor Flights are dedicated to transporting our WW II Veterans to Washington, D.C. to see the memorials built in their honor. What a wonderful way to Honor the Men and Women who served in World War II. “It’s Never To Late To Say Thank-You” to all the brave men and women that serve and have served in our Armed Forces.

The Property

The property that the house sits on is huge. It’s full of old trees, lilac bushes, flowers and plants that seem to change with the seasons. There is a garden behind the garage where Kim spent summers helping her Grandma plant. It has a small pond with fish, a small foot bridge that is over a creek that flows into Lake Winnebago. There are two sheds full of “grandpa’s treasures” Antique farm equipment is scattered around the property and a large weather vane that squeaks loudly when it catches the wind.

The garage is big enough to house three cars. A smokehouse is on the property that hasn’t been used in years. It’s a gazebo style structure with a built in brick/wood burning stove, where they cooked pizza, I do believe. On the property, they also have wild life. I live in the woods of northern Wisconsin and I have yet to see a deer in my yard. I have plenty of rabbits, squirrels and birds but no deer. They live in the city and have a yard full of deer, raccoons, foxes and a family of owls!

Update:  In the Spring of 2014, the smokehouse had a face lift. In July of 2014, it was the setting for a wedding.

mulberry jelly

Mulberry Trees

Another thing they have in their yard are four humongous Mulberry trees. I mean these babies are Huge! Back in June, we (Kim and I) had planned a thrift shopping day. Something we often do during the summer months. You see Bob and Kim are both teachers, and have summers off.  When we got back from our adventurous day thrift shopping, we were walking around the yard and I noticed these blackish, purplish stains on the driveway. I walked over to get a better look and there were a literally a million berries all over the ground. At first I thought they were blackberries but nope, blackberries don’t grow on trees.

What are Those??

I asked Kim,” What kind of berries are these?” ” I don’t know” she said. I said, “Let’s go ask Grandpa.” Well Grandpa thought they were boysenberries but he wasn’t really sure what they were but he was pretty sure the weren’t poisonous. I decided to eat a few and they tasted pretty darn good to me. A cross between a blackberry/blueberry and açaí berries. Kim suggested I take a sample home and google it. I did indeed went home and googled it. They weren’t boysenberries but they were mulberries. Score!

I immediately called Kim and told her what they were. This was a huge find. Not many people have access to mulberries in their yard and definitely not trees that are well established like these were. (we discovered a few years later that they also have black walnut trees on their property.)  Like any good wife, she immediately sent Bob back outside to pick the berries. He picked a gallon size, zip-lock baggie full of berries. I told him to freeze them until I could get back.

Stains, Stains, Stains

According to Bobby, mulberries aren’t much fun to “pick.” They stain your hands, clothes, shoes and anything else they come in contact with but the stains do wash away eventually. It was a few weeks later before I got back for a visit. We (me, Kim and Bobby) picked two 5 quart ice cream pails full of berries. If you have ever picked berries of any kind, you know that’s a lot! These yummy berries aren’t fun at all to pick. Our hands were stained black, we were getting eaten up alive by mosquitoes, bees were swarming around us and most of the berries were hard to reach. BUT, they are so worth it.

Lesson Learned

Next year, after some research, we learned that the easiest way to “pick” mulberries is to actually “whack” them off the tree. We’re going to lay a large tarp/old sheet on the ground, Bob will get on a step ladder to reach the higher branches, and Kim and I will bang or whack the lower limbs of the tree with a baseball bats. This will jog the berries loose, they’ll fall to the ground and land on the tarp/old sheet. We can then lift the corners of the tarp/old sheet together and dump them into large pails. This process should make picking/whacking/harvesting the mulberries much easier. If you’re wondering what mulberries taste like, to me they taste like blackberries, blueberries and acai berries all wrapped into one delicious berry.

Preparation

Since mulberries spoil rather quickly, unless you plan on using them right away, I would highly suggest freezing them first. You don’t want all your hard work picking the berries to go to waste. Therefore I always freeze the berries asap until I’m ready to make jam. Before freezing the berries, lightly sort through them. Pick out any leaves and sticks and bugs. It is not necessary to rinse the mulberries before freezing (unless they have been sprayed with chemicals) nor is it necessary to remove the small stems at the top of the berries before freezing.

Since mulberries are loaded with seeds, cook the fresh/frozen berries down, the small stems and all. After I cook down the berries, put the berries through a food mill or strain through layers of cheesecloth, squeezing the pulp, seeds and stems. Discard pulp, seeds etc. From the 5 quart pail of mulberries, I ended up with a 1/2 gallon of juice and stained hands. The recipe I used to make jelly called for 4 cups of juice per batch.

Now on to the recipe.

General Rule of Thumb: Fruit juice is used to make jelly. Crushed or lightly mashed fruit is used to make jam, preserves and spreads.

How to Make Fruit Juice for Jelly
Here are few tips~

  • Use soft fruits such as: Grapes, Cherries, Berries.
  • Select top-quality fruit.
  • Wash, pit and stem fruit.
  • Slightly crush fruit.
  • Add 1/4 water per quart of fruit in a large saucepan.
  • Cover; simmer fruit until soft.
  • Strain mixture through a damp jelly bag or several layers of cheesecloth to extract juice.
  • Juice may be used fresh, canned or frozen for later use.
Mulberry Season brings Mulberry Syrup  is another article you might want to take a look at.

Mulberry Jelly Recipe #1

 

Ingredients

  • 4 cups
    mulberry juice
  • 7 1/2 cups
    sugar
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons
    lemon juice
  • 2 pouches
    ball liquid pectin

Cooking Directions

  1. Yield: recipe makes about 8 half-pint jars.
  2. Put mulberry juice in a large saucepan.
  3. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved.
  4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
  5. Stir in liquid pectin. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly.
  6. Remove from heat. Skim off foam if necessary.
  7. Ladle hot jelly into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head-space.
  8. Adjust two-piece caps.
  9. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.
  10. Carefully remove jars using a jar lifter. Place jars on counter, let sit undistrubed for 24 hours.

Mulberry Jelly Recipe # 2

 

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 cups
    mulberry juice
  • 6 tablespoons
    ball classic pectin
  • 2 tablespoons
    lemon juice
  • 5 cups
    sugar

Cooking Directions

  1. Yield: recipe makes about 5 half-pints.
  2. Combine mulberry juice, classic pectin and lemon juice in a large saucepan.
  3. Bring to a boil over high heat.
  4. Add sugar, stirring constantly until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off foam if necessary.
  5. Ladle hot jelly into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head-space. Adjust two-piece caps.
  6. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.
  7. Carefully remove jars with a jar lifter. Place on counter and let sit undisturbed for 24 hours.
Recipes found in: Ball Blue Book, Guide to Preserving
mulberry jelly
*This post is dedicated to “Grandpa” Chris Kramer. A special man who loved many and was loved by many…2018*

Update: In 2017, Bob and Kim purchased this wonderful old home. Keeping it in the Kramer family for yet another generation.