Unless you have a tree on your property or in your neighborhood, you’ve probably never eaten a mulberry before. Frog Hollow Farm wants to change that. The regenerative farm — which is located in Brentwood, about 40 miles from Oakland — has embarked on a unique venture, developing innovative techniques that allow them to bring fresh mulberries to market.
Why mulberries? For one thing, they’re a nutrient-packed superfruit that’s loaded with antioxidants, fiber and more. They’re also climate-resilient, growing even in places where our warming planet is challenging traditional crops like cherries.
That makes them a perfect fruit to keep regenerative farms like Frog Hollow resilient as the world heats up, and to extend fruit harvests beyond traditional harvest times.
What Do Mulberries Taste Like?
Mulberries taste like a boysenberry, with a strong berry flavor but a bit more of a vegetal, earthy, brambly quality. When you sip a Napa wine and the tasting room attendant says it has “red berry” notes, that’s the kind of thing you’ll taste when you eat a handful of mulberries. The berries have a striking look, too — they’re nearly two inches long and extremely delicate.
That’s one of the reasons the berries are so hard to find. Although mulberry trees are prolific (and have grown in places like China for generations as part of the silk harvest), their fruit is rarely commercialized because it’s finicky to pick and delicate to transport.
Frog Hollow solved the first problem by developing an innovative system of nets that catch their berries as they ripen and fall from trees naturally, eliminating the need for picking. They get the berries to consumers through their network of Bay Area farmer’s markets and CSAs.
Frog Hollow has been selling mulberries for two seasons now, and their third season harvest just started. They rushed some fresh mulberries right to my door during one of their local CSA dropoffs so I could try them almost as soon as they were picked.
Here are my thoughts in a video:
Where to Buy Mulberries
Want to check out Frog Hollow’s mulberries for yourself? Your best bet is to head to one of their farmer’s markets or sign up for their CSA. Even if you can’t eat all your mulberries in one sitting, there are plenty of ways to turn them into a tasty mulberry lassi or infuse them into vodka for a mulberry spritz.
Our region is known for our amazing food and unique produce, and Frog Hollow’s mulberries definitely deliver. Try out these unique and flavorful berries, and expand your fruit-related horizons in a way that’s only possible here by the Bay.
