From Garden Abundance to God’s Provision
🪴 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. – James 1:17
If you’ve ever had a mulberry tree, you know the blessing (and chaos) of its harvest. For a few weeks each summer, we’re ankle-deep in mulberries, with purple fingers and sticky smiles. I used to see them as messy. They would cover the ground and road with a purple tint. Everyone’s shoes and clothes are pretty purple. Prior to living in our home, I found them annoying, especially on the road where our kids would walk to school. Now, I realize they truly are a small, sweet reminder of God’s overflowing provision. He has once again provided us with a great nutrient for our bodies.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Here are my favorite ways to use mulberries — in the kitchen, with the kids, and in my walk with Christ.
🍇 Eat Them Fresh
The best way to enjoy mulberries? Right off the branch. No recipe needed. The kids love to pluck them right off the tree.
Kid-friendly tip: Lay a sheet under the tree and gently shake the branches. It’s fun, fast, and teaches little ones about God’s unexpected blessings. It’s like they are raining down, just as God allows his blessing to rain down. Kids also love helping. We collected many berries to be used for a later date. Of course you have to eat some while picking them.
🧁 Bake With Them
I have not actually baked these ideas yet but this would be a great way to use some of those berries up. I was busy making jelly. However, freeze many of them to be used at a later date. Just swap those yummy mulberries into any berry recipe you love! They’re slightly earthy, sweet, and pair well with honey, cinnamon, and lemon.
📝 Try these:
- Mulberry Muffins
- Hand Pies for tiny hands
- Mulberry Cake – https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/254198/mulberry-kuchen-cake/
- This cake looks absolutely delicious and will for sure be on my shortlist next time I’m baking!
- This cake looks absolutely delicious and will for sure be on my shortlist next time I’m baking!
Baking with what you have reminds me of contentment. God doesn’t ask us to bring perfect fruit — just a willing heart. Contentment is not always easy to feel in our constantly go go go society. I know I often do not take the time I should to just sit and reflex and just be in the moment. With three active children and a project list that is a mile long. There always seems to be something I should be doing.
Today though, I’m enjoying the day on my front porch watching my kids play outside after we had a picnic lunch on the front porch. I sat with them during lunch. Go bake something and remember that God knows that you are imperfect and he wants us to strive to be Christ-like in all that we do.
🍯 Make Mulberry Jelly
There’s something holy about preserving — it’s slow, intentional, and deeply satisfying. We prefer to make Jelly in our home. It’s a labor of love to get all those tiny seeds out! We use food mills, a blender and, fine screens to make sure no seed escapes. My husband recently bought a juice press which will hopefully speed up the process of getting the seeds eliminated.
We liked this recipe from Lazy Dog Farm.
🫙 Basic Recipe:
- 3 cups mulberry juice
- 4.5 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 packet of sure jell pectin
DIRECTIONS:
1) Rinse and drain the whole mulberries in a colander.
2) Add the mulberries to a large pot with 1/4 cup of water on medium-high heat.
3) Use a potato masher to smash the mulberries in the pot as they soften. Do this for 5 minutes or until all the berries are tender and smashed. They don’t have to be emulsified; you just want the juices to be released from the berries.
4) Drape a piece of cheesecloth over a colander sitting in a larger bowl. Pour the smashed mulberries into the colander with the draped cheesecloth.
5) Allow the juice to drain through the cheesecloth into the larger bowl. Use a spoon to gently push the remaining juice from the fruit through the cheesecloth.
6) Measure 3 cups of the extracted mulberry juice. If you’re a little short on juice, you can add up to 1/2 cup of water to make 3 cups total.
7) Add the mulberry juice, lemon juice, and packet of pectin to a pot and bring to a rolling boil while stirring.
8) Once the boil cannot be stirred down, add the sugar and bring to a rolling boil for exactly one minute.
9) After boiling for a minute, remove the pot from the stovetop.
10) Immediately start pouring the liquid into canning jars. Secure jars with lids and bands and place in a hot water bath for 5 minutes.
11) After 5 minutes, remove the jars from the water bath and place them on the counter to cool overnight.
Shelf-life of jam? Months.
Shelf-life of a faithful heart? Eternal.
What will your eternal life look like? With the trust in Jesus and his sacrifices for us to be able to live an eternal life. Our worldly possessions are nice and we may enjoy them for a short time, but with a faithful heart we will enjoy the happiness for all eternity.
Matthew 25:46 (NIV)
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Daniel 4:3 (NIV)
How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.
Syrups & Shrubs
Mulberry syrup is perfect for:
- Pancakes
- Sparkling lemonade
- Drizzling on yogurt or ice cream
Shrub Tip: Mix 1 cup fruit + 1 cup sugar + 1 cup apple cider vinegar. Shake all ingredients in an airtight non-metal container, then chill for at least 4 hours and up to 1 week. Strain out the solids, pressing to get all the juice, and return to the container. This will keep for many months. To serve, just splash some into a tall glass of fizzy water, to taste.
Syrups and shrubs are like grace — a little splash flavors everything. It’s important to give grace to all those who are around us. Giving grace to someone might be just the recipe to turn their day around and help them see that there is good.
🧊 Freeze for Later
This is one of my favorite ways to save fruit for another day. The possibilities are endless. Line a tray with parchment, freeze individually, then store in bags. Frozen mulberries are great for:
- Smoothies
- Sorbet
- Berry crisps in the middle of Winter
🧺 Preserving isn’t just food — it’s a habit of the soul. It’s the quiet art of holding on — to flavors, to memories, to what matters. Preserving teaches patience, presence, and care. And sometimes, in the jar, we tuck away more than fruit — we seal in love, resilience, and the scent of home.”
🖍️ Crafts, Dyes & Creative Play
Let the kids have a little messy fun! I have not tried any of these, but thought they sounded like fun and will be kept in my back pocket.
🎨 Ideas:
- Natural tie-dye with old tees
- DIY berry “ink” for letters
- Mulberry-stained bookmarks (use watercolor paper)
Lesson for little hearts: Even stains can be beautiful in God’s hands.
🧺 Share the Abundance
One tree gives more than one family needs. Let’s be generous.
Ideas:
- Leave jars of jam on porches
- Invite neighbors to pick
- Bake-and-bless a pie for a church friend – Now I’m not a pie person, but I could make a good crisp to share with others. It might have to be the next Sunday morning fellowship time.
- Canning Exchange with friends
Luke 6:38 (NIV)
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
🌳 A Mulberry Moment in Scripture
In 2 Samuel 5, David waits for God’s signal in the tops of the mulberry trees before moving forward. A holy whisper in the leaves.
The Philistines Defeated
17Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. 18The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. 19So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?”
And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.”
20So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim. 21And they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away.
22Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. 23Therefore David inquired of the Lord, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. 24And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” 25And David did so, as the Lord commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.
Application: Don’t rush the harvest. Don’t force the fruit. Trust the timing of the Gardener. In this case you are the gardener over your plants as God is the Gardener over your soul. What is it that your soul needs? Time in prayer, time in God’s word, and time to reflect.
✝️ Final Thoughts
Whether you’re parenting littles, planting seeds in the garden, or filling shelves with jars of jam, mulberries are a quiet but powerful reminder that God gives abundantly.
We just need open hands to receive it… and maybe a towel for the stains.
The days can feel long, stretching with endless needs and noise — but the weeks? They fly by. And in the middle of that beautiful chaos, we’re doing more than we realize.
Those messes and stains? They’re not just part of the day — they’re part of the work.
Because in the scraped knees, spilled juice, and bedtime stories, we are guiding lives.
These are the days when seeds are being planted — seeds of kindness, patience, faith, and strength. And little by little, character is being built — in them, and us.
So take heart. God is in the details. And the fruit of this season, though it may not be visible yet, is growing.