I've been growing my own mulberry trees and after a few times of pruning the branches and learning a secret gardener's tip, the tree or bush has been proliferating well.
In fact, the regular rain (it is quite rainy these days in Penang) and the humid, hot sun have helped the tree flourish well. I also use a lot of compost (from my own compost pots) on the tree, placing scoops of compost around the root and the base of the tree from time to time (or when I am feeling like a hardworking gardener).
As I write this, we're in our third lockdown phase in Malaysia (until 7 June or is it 10 June? I can't recall). So lots more pottering about at home and gardening I guess! Even Singapore (where my sis is) is also going back to a lockdown phase as virus variants are emerging. It seems you can't read any news without mention of the virus and how things are faring across the region. As someone who works in digital and mostly online, I am kept occupied with clients' projects and even our own FB live and podcast. But I do pity those who are in retail or need face-to-face interaction to make the business work.
The secret gardener's tip is this - to ensure your mulberry tree fruits as much as it can, you need to tie back its branch on itself using cable ties! I am not sure why this works but it did ramp up the mulberry fruit production. Basically, you are bending the branch backwards unto itself.
Either that or prune the branches like mad. Be ruthless. I found that when I did this to my chilli plant, it began to produce more leaves and the stems grew thicker. So in many ways, it is good to prune your plants.
Each time my husband trims the mulberry tree, we end up throwing the thin branches. You can easily grow a mulberry tree by sticking the branch halfway into the ground but we have run out of space to grow more mulberry trees.
Just last week, my husband did a round of trimming the mulberry tree and we ended up with a lot of fresh leaves. I remembered that I bought dried mulberry leaf tea from Chiangmai back in 2014, thinking it was an exotic leaf tea only to find out that I could easily make this tea with fresh leaves.
I do eat the semi-ripened mulberry fruit weekly; whenever I am out in the garden and see some fruits ready to be picked, I'd pluck them and pop them into my mouth.
They're usually tart and I would wince as I chewed the fruit. However I know the fruit is good for the eyes and based on TCM, the eyes and liver are connected so they're great for the liver too.
How To Make Mulberry Tea
I decided to find out more. Could I drink a tea made from fresh leaves and dried leaves? And what about its taste?
I took about 3 fresh leaves and cut them into strips and poured boiling water over them and covered them for 10 minutes to decoct. Mulberry leaf tea is light - some compare it to green tea. It doesn't have a strong flavour profile so it's a pleasantly light tea that you can sip all day.
The rest of the leaves were air-dried (but be sure to wash and rinse the leaves first). I put them in a colander and left them on the kitchen counter. Later I added a few packs of silica gel in between the leaves to absorb moisture and speed up the process. After 3 days, the leaves were curled up and crinkled and papery. I took 3 dried leaves and cut them into strips and again, decocted them the same way I did with the fresh leaves.
I didn't taste much difference in using fresh or dried leaves to be honest. Both tasted the same. Since I have a flourishing mulberry tree in my garden, I can get fresh leaves any time so I would most likely use fresh leaves. But I can see how dried leaves can be useful if you can't grow your own mulberry tree.
Benefits of Drinking Mulberry Tea
Benefits-wise, this tea is truly a powerhouse of goodness.
From the TCM point of view, mulberry leaf or Sang Ye is beneficial to the liver and lung meridians as it is cold in nature with a sweet and bitter flavour. It dispels wind, clears heat, moistens lungs, soothes liver and promotes eye health. Therefore it can be used for people who have mild fever, headache, coughs, throat and mouth dryness, painful or swollen eyes, vision problems, skin rashes and dizziness. People with nosebleeds can use mulberry leaf tea as it cools the blood.
Says this research:
"The deep colored mulberry fruits are rich in phenolic compounds, including flavonoids, anthocyanins, and carotenoids. They represent one of the most widely distributed classes of flavonoids in plants. Such natural substances extracted from plants have been shown to have greater antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and have been used for health maintenance and disease management since the beginning of recorded history. Mulberry is traditionally used in Chinese medicines as a pharmaceutical for antifever diuretics, liver protection, eyesight improvement, blood pressure reduction, and cardiovascular disease prevention. Dietary mulberry has been reported to have not only antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and anti-diabetic effects, but also cardiovascular, hepato-, and neuro-protective properties."Note the words that I've highlighted in bold.
Mulberry leaf is also used in the treatment of diabetes as well as an immune booster.
In view of what we're going through now - Covid and all - I would suggest we boost our immunity by using naturally grown (organic) leaf teas and decoctions that are simple and easy to make for the family.
The weather now is also humid and hot and I am particularly feeling the heat literally. I am often tempted to turn on the air conditioner but I try not to add more "heat" into the environment. So if I am feeling heaty, I will make myself a mug of mulberry leaf tea.
From the Western point of view, mulberry leaves contain zinc, calcium and iron in addition to beta-carotene and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Both beta-carotene and vitamin C is important for good skin and good eye health.
Its rich gallic acid compounds help with type 2 diabetes, helping to lower blood sugar. It also helps with arthritis and fights bad cholesterol.
Why not try growing this mulberry tree in a pot or your garden? Get one or two branches and just poke them into the ground or a pot. As you can see it has lots of health benefits (no wonder silkworms love this leaf).
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