Good morning, I have noted how my garden, depending on the
veggie, is a good month to two months ahead of last year. It really has come to
my attention that the garden is not the only thing that is ahead but the whole
West Texas landscape is too.
I mention this because our fruiting mulberry has been
dropping fruit for almost a month now.
Deb and I have not had such favorable feelings for these
trees for very long. It was during the 2011 drought that we came to respect and
cherish these trees. One could easily ask why is this?
2011 started out nice enough but by the first 2 weeks of
February we saw some of the coldest temps that West Texas has seen for quite
some time. The first week we had a low of 1.5 and it remained below freezing
for several days. There was a bit of a warm up (above freezing) over the
weekend and then plunged to deep freeze temps again for several days. This
killed any green leaved plant that had not gone dormant. Then within several
weeks we were baking in 100-degree heat. Not to mention extremely high wind
that helped to create huge fires. The
fires and wind happened just before the spring bird migration. These fires
destroyed a lot of the cover that the birds needed along with most food
sources.
This is where the mulberries shined. Because the year before
was a good water year and there were no late spring freezes the mulberries were
covered with fruit. When the migration happened, we saw birds that we had never
seen before on the property. Normally we have a pair of kingbirds that nest in
these trees and defend these trees from other birds approaching. This year they
didn’t! These trees were one of few good food sources that year.
Because the mulberry trees have been fruiting for so long I
am hopeful that there will be fruit when the migration begins. In the meantime,
the chickens are doing their best to fill this gap. We like to refer to
mulberry season as purple season. Their feet and beaks along with their roosts
are all purple. I have noticed that the chicken pellet bill has gone down
substantially.
It is quite hilarious when I open the coops in the morning and
the race is on to be the first to get the overnight dropped fruit.
Yes, these trees can be considered messy but they have
become a pillar of good tidings in so many other ways.
This week I have harvested chard, kale, green onions,
carrots, lettuce, beets and summer squash. Please email for availability
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