There's an interesting story about mulberry trees in the UK: "Elizabeth I, sent some mulberry trees to Reading to encourage a silk industry there - the leaves

There's an interesting story about mulberry trees in the UK: "Elizabeth I, sent some mulberry trees to Reading to encourage a silk industry there - the leaves are the sole food of silk worms - but it was James I who got serious and ordered them by the thousand because he wanted to take control of the silk-making business the from French. Unfortunately, the scheme failed because the gardener planted the wrong sort. Silk worms eat the soft leaves of Morus alba but had no appetite for the leathery leaves of Morus nigra, the tree that produces such delicious fruit." From http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/3311801/The-fruit-of-queens.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/3311801/The-fruit-of-qu... I'd love to try making mulberry gin like they mention. We make damson gin each year in Autumn which tastes awesome.