Red Mulberry, Morus rubra

The Red Mulberry, also known as Morus rubra, is a tree species native to North America. It belongs to the mulberry family, Moraceae, which includes over 1000 species of plants. The Red Mulberry is an important tree species in many ways, as it provides a range of ecological, economic, and cultural benefits.

Ecological Benefits

The Red Mulberry is an ecologically important tree species, as it provides various ecological benefits. The tree is well-suited to a wide range of soils, from sandy loam to heavy clay, and can tolerate a range of pH levels. The tree is also tolerant of flooding, making it an important species in riparian zones, floodplains, and other wetland areas.

The Red Mulberry produces large quantities of fruit, which are eaten by a range of wildlife species. The fruit is rich in nutrients, including vitamin C, iron, and calcium, and is an important food source for many bird species, including blue jays, robins, and cedar waxwings. Other animals that feed on the fruit include squirrels, raccoons, opossums, and deer.

The Red Mulberry also provides important habitat for a range of insect species. Many butterfly and moth species rely on the Red Mulberry as a host plant for their caterpillars. The tree also supports a range of other insect species, including beetles, wasps, and ants.

Economic Benefits

The Red Mulberry is an economically important tree species in North America, as it has a range of commercial uses. The tree is grown for its fruit, which is used to make jams, jellies, pies, and other food products. The fruit is also used to make wine and other alcoholic beverages.

The wood of the Red Mulberry is also valuable, as it is hard, dense, and resistant to decay. The wood is used to make furniture, flooring, and other high-quality wood products. The bark of the Red Mulberry is also used in traditional medicine, as it has been shown to have antiviral and antimicrobial properties.

Mulberry trees are easy to propagate and make an excellent fodder source.

Cultural Significance

The Red Mulberry has a rich cultural significance in North America. The tree has been used for centuries by indigenous people for food, medicine, and other purposes. The Cherokee people used the bark of the tree to treat fever, while the Iroquois used the inner bark to make a tea to treat coughs and colds.

The Red Mulberry also played an important role in the Underground Railroad, as it was used by slaves escaping to freedom. The tree provided important cover for escaping slaves, as well as a source of food.

Duck Potato, Sagittaria platyphylla, Delta Arrowhead

     I once stole this plant from a ditch at the community College. No really,  I really did do that. I wasn't arrested either. It almost tops the time I took cattail from the ditch at the hospital. I wasn't arrested then either. 

     Actually I didn't know what this was until it made a pretty white flower, and now I love it. I had wanted to buy duck potato because I had read that it's edible to, well, ducks. Possibly rabbits? Not sure. But now that I have this plant, all I have to do is propagate it, and I will have unlimited duck food! Mwa haha.

     Supposedly the underground tubers are eaten by ducks and snapping turtles. It sounds like a great plant to grow. Supposedly it can be propagated by transplanting the tubers. Also supposedly, it was a major food source for the Native Americans that lived in the Okeechobee area. 

Permaculture in Florida: What Should I Do With All These Sticks?

      Have you ever felt like winter has left your place a mess and you don't know what to do with all of the sticks and leaves? 

     The permaculture thing to do would probably be to let the sticks and leaves stay where they fell and fertilize the soil. While I would agree that this is a good idea, it can be a  little bit unsightly in the front yard gardens. Then there is the problem of palm trees and them leaving their fallen branches on top of other plants. 

     These extra branches and leaves do have a purpose in the permaculture garden. Believe it or not, fallen leaves can be fed to livestock. My rabbits eat sycamore leaves and palm leaves, but neither are their favorite. Any amount they can mulch for me is appreciated, and the uneaten leaves are put onto the garden pathways as a mulch layer. Sometimes I also put fallen leaves and rabbit manure around new plantings.

     Large branches and sticks are a whole nother problem. They take years to break down, even here in the South. So I have found a solution, and that is to cut all branches to the desired widths of the paths, and then to stack similar width sticks horizontally to create a path. This is imperfect at times, because the branches often roll, and they also can make a person trip. But I am confident that digging in the logs a little bit will prevent this problem.

Muscadine Grapes

      One grapevine planted several years ago now yields more grapes than I can ever harvest. This year I was able to reach four quarts of grapes for eating. They are sweet and crunchy. You know they are ready to harvest when the grapes are soft and springy, if they feel hard then they need more time on the vine. They seem to last quite a while in the refrigerator. Yes Muscadine grapes have seeds in them unless you are able to get a variety without seeds. 

Do Ducks Eat Tradescantia Purple Heart?

 

    Things are so expensive. A bag of plain chicken food without the additives to promote egg laying is about $20. When you factor in the cost of the baby duck food I have already given them, at this time I have spent about $40 in nothing but feed for these ducks. That makes them kinda expensive if I was owning them for meat. So any supplementation that I can give them from my plants would be a good thing.

     Between the corn sprouts and the water hyacinth, I have learned that they will eat Spanish Needle, but they won't eat Papyrus. And today I covered their splash ponds in Tradescantia Purple Heart, also called Moses in a Boat. It's a lovely succulent that grows in deep shade and is used often around here as a groundcover. Previously I had determined that the rabbits do indeed like it.

     Covered the splash ponds in Purple Heart, and then went on to do the next chore. By the time I turned around they were eating everything in sight, including the Purple Heart.

     That day they didn't finish their chicken crumble food or the corn sprouts because they filled up on healthy plants.

     Ducks love water hyacinth.

Spiderwort, Spring 2022

 

     Every Spring, around Alban Eilir, all the Spiderwort start blooming. The flowers are open in the very early morning, and as the sun rises they appear to be glowing 🟣. They are amazingly beautiful, and one of the few plants of early spring that is native to this area and edible. 

 

    Every year I transplant seedlings from the mowed areas to safer areas of my place. And every year I have more and more beautiful color in the spring. One year I used the flowers to color eggs, by sticking them to the egg and then boiling the egg in a wrapper. It came out amazingly.

Spring Garden 2022 Part 2

 

     If I didn't mention it, I planted up my cannas this spring. I am so over losing all of my cannas to frost, from now on I am going to keep them in the backyard again. I am also going to utilizing the punch bowl method to ensure that they are well hydrated in the backyard, which is something I had trouble with the last time I kept them in full sun in the backyard.

     Also included naked onions, naked black beans. My mom gave me some stromanthe and variegated ginger.

Spring Garden 2022 Part 1

 

     This spring I had some time and I replanted some of my cannas, also planted some beans, onions, spiderwort, sweet potatoes. My mom gave me some ginger, and I bought a basil plant from the grocery store.

Cannas

     If you've met me, you probably know that I gush over cannas, my favorite root vegetable. And I have never eaten a single one other than the green leaves. 

    I was introduced to the fun and ease of growing bulbs and tubers when I briefly lived in Michigan, and the love of it has stayed with me with cannas, amaryllis, and taro. Cannas are my best, they have amazing flowers for months on end.

     Sadly, over the years my canna collection has been dying down, mostly due to neglect and cold winter weather. Im not going to pretend that I am a perfect person. I have three kids and a job, trying to fit in exercise and watering the plants has been rough.

     They absolutely need water in the summer to survive. The native Florida cannas, which I have none of, grow in boggy areas at the edges of ponds and lakes. I havent ever seen any growing in a river. Mine are in pots sunken into my ponds, many of which I built primarily for canna and water hyacinth culture. And yes, the rabbits love to eat cannas!

     My mother bought me these bright pink beauties for my birthday last year. Maybe I had told her how much I loved the pink ones with the big flowers. And these, like my few other pinks, appear to be dwarf cannas, not climbing the 8 feet like the nondwarf variety.

    Somehow these have not just survived, but thrived in the location that I placed them, chosen mostly for safety. They have been blooming since March, and its now almost June. The tubers are growing so large they have nearly broken the plastic pot holding them. The leaves have been yellowing, notbsurebif thats from packnof nutrition, the heat, or fromndyingbdownnat the end of the season. I want to divide the pinks and repot, but when I get a few minutes to take care of it I realize that they have sent up yet another flower. Which begs the question:

     Do tropical bulbs need to be separated after flowering is completed, or can you separate them and transplant at any time?