All around the Mulberry bush

♪All around the Mulberry bush the Monkey chased the weasle, the monkey thought it all in fun - POP! goes the weasle.♪

That nursery rhyme drives me nuts, what does it mean "POP! Goes the weasle" did someone knock him off Soprano style, or did the monkey bop him on the head but Pop sounded better or did he POP out of the bush?  I'm confused.  The way I figure it, most nursery rhymes are morbid and tell a sorrowful tale, so this one probably isn't much better.

However, for all the years we sang and laughed at the song, I'd never seen a Mulberry.  When I started selling PartyLite, they have a Mulberry candle and so I felt I was one step closer to discovering the mystery of the Mulberry.  It's a nice fragrance and for me personally, one of my best sellers (should you be interested in the fantasticness of the PartyLite candles, you should totally check out the NEW CATALOGUE!  But that's not what this is about)

Then, we moved.  Our house has a bazillion - like 8, fruit trees smattering the yard.  We have mostly apples and while in theory that's wonderful, apples to eat and look pretty, they are in fact a pain in the posterior.  We don't spray, we didn't prune and they are turning our yard and driveway into a bee buzzing pile of apple sauce.  Which leaves poor Corey to shovel up the debris.  We also have a couple of plum trees and a pear tree.

But the cake taker is our Mulberry tree.  That's right, a Mulberry tree!  When we first looked at the place our landlords took us around showing us the house and the yard, stopping right in front of this big beautiful tree.  They pointed to it and explained that it was a Mulberry tree and that as far as they knew one of the only ones in the area.  At the time it didn't have any fruit so we had to wait a season to see it. 

The following summer as the berries came out we headed to our tree with curiousity and trepidation.  If you've ever had a choke cherry you will understand why we hesitate to try something that's "so good" (thanks for that Dad).  Anyways, my first taste brought joy not a horribly dry mouth.

The Mulberries are excellent!!!  With a taste something similar to what a cross between a cherry and a blackberry would be, they are so pleasant to eat.  The tiny little stem at the end doesn't come out very well so you need to hang onto it as you bite your treat, but other than that they are delish.  They also have a wicked dying property and after 10 or 50 berries you have red stained fingers and lips.  I keep threatening to head out there before a date night with Corey and solidify my lipstick for the evening.  If it weren't for the fact that the color is closer to purple than red, I might just do it. 

Due to the fact that life is busy and I totally hate and loath the idea of having red stained hands  time has just slipped away from me, I haven't actually picked them for more than immediate snacking.  I hear they make great jam and I know my girls would love to sit and snack away on them.  Who knows, maybe next year.  But I don't really mean that, what I really mean is probably not gonna happen ever, unless you want to come do it.  Well, do you?

So tell me, What's your favourite Summer fruit?

ps. Don't forget it's T minus 7 days until the GIVEAWAY over at OFS Reviews is closed.  Get on over and enter, even if all you do is pass it forward to someone you know.  Heck, a year worth of diaper cream would cover you for baby gifts for awhile.