Just a thing we all have in common !

[randman]

Mulberry has toxic sap too, in fact it is supposedly hallucinogenic

Funny how something that has toxic sap could have berries that are just fine to eat (and delicious too) although I've never hallucinated after eatin them. Supposedly the berries on yew are ok to eat but the seeds (and everything else from yew) are toxic. Now who experimented around enough to figure that one out.

[PaulN/KS]

I use mulberry for smoking pork and chicken and osage, in small quantities, for smoking beef brisket.
No ill effects as far as I can tell...

[gstoneberg]

I smoked  with mulberry and apple exclusively in Nebraska for 15 years.  Good tasting meat.

George

[toomanyknots]

Mulberry has toxic sap too, in fact it is supposedly hallucinogenic

Funny how something that has toxic sap could have berries that are just fine to eat (and delicious too) although I've never hallucinated after eatin them. Supposedly the berries on yew are ok to eat but the seeds (and everything else from yew) are toxic. Now who experimented around enough to figure that one out.

The berries themselves, when unripe, and said to be potently hallucinogenic:

excerpt from Tom Brown's Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants
by Tom Brown, Jr.

Grandmother was on her way to a huge mulberry patch that grew near an old abandoned farmhouse. She said I could help her dig the newer plants' roots, which she would powder and make into a laxative for her patients. We dug for hours, collecting the choicest roots, still making sure that the conservation of the plants were kept in mind. During the whole process, I was eating the mulberries, not noticing whether they were ripe or not, a common fault among young boys. This continued for hours as I got lost in Grandmother's stories and the methodic collecting of roots.

When I finally got up off my knees and began to walk home, I felt strangely sick and dizzy. The landscape felt as if it were made of liquid and I was a small boat. Everything was moving up and down. Animal and bird voices sounded strange and mystical. I felt disoriented and forgot where I was and where I was going. Out of the corner of my eye I began to see things move; shadows became animated, and colors strange. The sickness continued until I fell to the ground vomiting, yet laughing at the overall hilarity of the situation. The condition worsened and I began to tremble, feeling paranoid and extremely nervous. I mistook every rustle of the brush for a wild dog, and my imagination began to run wild.

Grandmother knew instantly what I had done and helped me slowly back to her house. I did not know that the unrip berries can cause violent upset stomach and nervousness. Nor did I realize that they also contained hallucinogens. Nevertheless, I was sick and not getting any better. Grandmother put me to bed and gave me a cup of mullein flower tea to settle my stomach and calm my nerves. I awoke the next morning with Grandfather, Rick, and Grandmother sitting around the bed, waiting and watching. My vision slowly cleared, but my head pounded very badly; my stomach still remained very queasy, and I felt weak. Another day slipped by as I drifted in and out of pain and sleep.

The following day I felt much better. The events of the past few days seemed like a distant nightmare, fuzzy memories at best as if they never happened in reality. Grandmother was in the garden at her drying racks. The roots we had collected two days before were now dry. Lovingly, she scraped the bark from the root using a knife held at a right angle, a procedure which produced a coarse granular dust. This dust she would use for effective treatment of constipation in her patients or for herself. I helped her out but had to be filled in completely as to what had happened to me. The disorientation was still with me, and I felt as if I had lost two days of my life.

Link to source: http://www.erowid.org/herbs/mulberry/mulberry_info1.shtml

Also:

http://www.erowid.org/herbs/mulberry/mulberry_info2.shtml

"Supposedly the berries on yew are ok to eat but the seeds (and everything else from yew) are toxic."

I've heard that too, but I would still be too scared to eat em!   

[SLIMBOB]

Kinda like poke salad.  If you boil it, pour it off and reboil it a couple of times more...it wont make you violently ill.  Who was the first person to say "Hhmm, I wonder if I boil it a few more times...".

[Hrothgar]

Those shavings make good mulch for blueberries and hot peppers;).

I knew a man a few years back who used to take hardwoods to Kansas City and sell to the BBQ joints. He claimed Arthur Bryant liked to use Hickory and Locust...

[Badger]

When it rains about 3 times a year I just take a break. LOL>

[lostarrow]

When someone doesn't like my answer when they ask me how much I charge for a bow, I point to my bucket!

On the side it has a sign saying, "$5 laminated bow kit.  Some assembly required.  Glue not included."

I then softly say,  "you get what you pay for".  After all, the difference between feed oats and fed oats is just one little "e" and a whole lotta money.

Good one JW.  Do you mind if I use that one ? You guys are a riot !

[country]

I have used plenty of the osage scraps in the smoker...seems to work good.... didn't use the sap wood though

[toomanyknots]

I have used plenty of the osage scraps in the smoker...seems to work good.... didn't use the sap wood though

I just always thought, osage being so prone to cause allergic reactions from coming into contact as well as breathing in the wood dust, (me being one of those people), that eating anything smoked with it would not be a good idea?

[Badger]

 My sons buddy uses ipe in his beer fermenting process instead of oak.

[country]

no side efeks here thet i aldkjlk of notex 

[Carson (CMB)]

Don't know about Osage for cookin with but I save all of my good woods (hazel, plum, dogwood, maple, and of course hickory etc) cutoffs and shavings for the smoker BBQ. That rules out yew, Scotchbroom and any cedars also (and anything that doesn't smell good when I toast the belly). Russian olive smells bad too so I wouldn't use it for cookin either.

I save my vine maple, white oak, and some others for the smoker too.  Still experimenting.  Doesn't Russian olive, as well as salt cedar smell like you pee'd on the fire?  Or is just me? 

[mikekeswick]

Pink ipe makes an awesome tea.
Yew berries are nice, try some....but spit the seeds out!

[Del the cat]

Mulberry has toxic sap too, in fact it is supposedly hallucinogenic

Funny how something that has toxic sap could have berries that are just fine to eat (and delicious too) although I've never hallucinated after eatin them. Supposedly the berries on yew are ok to eat but the seeds (and everything else from yew) are toxic. Now who experimented around enough to figure that one out.

Yup, I've tasted Yew berries, just slimey, very slightly sweet. Made sure I spat out the pip.
My offcuts, including Yew go to my big Sis who has a wood burner, says they burn a treat .
Del