Over the last 2 years I’ve acquired several varieties of mulberry trees. Mulberries were once a southern (United States) staple crop. Everyone reportedly had one in their yard. They are known to yield fruit abundantly & stain your fingers with their sticky juice.

In addition to generously bearing fruit, the mulberry tree’s leaves make a delicious tea with a broad nutritional profile. The leaves are packed with vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, zinc & calcium.

The leaves have been studied most notably for their ability to aid in weight loss, regulation of blood sugar, improve cholesterol & manage or prevent certain cancers.

A single mulberry tree can have leaves of different shapes & sizes. Each Winter, mulberry trees shed all of their leaves & stand as naked, brown sticks until they flush full of new green leaves each Spring.

I determined that by the end of this Summer, I would be more intentional about routinely harvesting & drying the mulberry leaves before they fall from the tree.

This way, I have a reserve of dried mulberry leaves for making teas all through the Winter.

Now that I grow my own tea leaves, it’s hard to imagine I ever used to buy prepackaged teas in the store. This has worked out so well that harvesting mulberry leaves will remain on my end of Summer ‘to do’ list each year.