By LEE KOELZER | Director GRU
Mulberries are one of my favorite berries in Uganda. I’m told they were actually brought here by the British during colonialism… though I’m not sure if that is accurate. Regardless- they are DELICIOUS!!! When ripe they turn a deep purple color. I can just stand next to the mulberry bush and scarf them down. But we also give the mulberry bushes out to the villagers as well.
We propagate the bushed from cuttings, which we root in a soft soil and after about 8 weeks they are ready to be planted. With our variety, the full size bushes only grow about 15 feet tall with long billowing branches that are easily pulled down to pick the berries up on top. The bushes produce fruit 2-3 times per year and they produce A LOT!
We bring the berries to Kampala and sell them by the kilo. Both individual people and jam makers buy the berries. As the berries have a stem that runs all the way through, jam makers have to boil the berries then mash them to strain out the stems. But for me, and most other bakers I know here, we just eat/ cook with the berries whole and eat the stems too!
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