IT’S SPRING time and a solitary Mulberry Tree awaits the neighbourhood children.

Many of us have fond childhood memories of a simpler time of climbing trees, picking and eating to our hearts content, with only the purple stains on our fingers and lips giving us away.

At the end of Foreshore Drive Salamander Bay, stands the old faithful Mulberry Tree full of mulberries.

Late Spring and early Summer will see the tree heavy with ripened fruit.

Local Resident, Enid Frame has seen four decades of children climb the tree and feast on the delectable berries.

“My daughter was only 7 when we moved to the area and she would sit in that tree with her friends for hours to just eat and talk,” Mrs Frame told Bay News Of the Area.

“It wasn’t unusual for her to bring home 2-3 buckets filled to the brim,” Enid said.

“I would be cooking up Mulberry Cobbler, or Mulberry pie a couple of times a week.”

Over the years the Mulberry tree has been trimmed and is now only half the size it once was but it still promises to deliver a bounty of sweetness to all those who visit.

Typically, the colour is a blackish purple so wait until the fruit is fully ripened before you eat it.

“A good tip to get the stains off your fingers is to take a green leaf and rub it on your fingers,” Enid informed Bay News Of The Area.

 

 

By Jewell DRURY