The Live Edge 1414 Mulberry Wood Collection: From Forgotten Sentinel to Family Heirloom
The Last of El Paso's Mulberry Trees
Due to their quick growth rate and relatively low maintenance, the Mulberry Tree has been a popular addition to parks and yards. The once-widespread popularity of this shade tree led to mass planting. This helped families find a comfortable place in the shade for a family gathering or to simply sit and read. This also resulted in the production of large amounts of pollen. The pollen lazily floating through the air was enough to aggravate allergies and potentially trigger allergic reactions. Because of this, some states placed bans against planting mulberry decades ago to decrease allergen-related concerns (Prokop, 2022).
Standing Sentinel
With no new Mulberry trees being planted in regions like mine, that means that the Mulberry Trees that are still standing are the last ones. These trees that have stood sentinel for years are now on their final watch.
They stand long forgotten in parking lots enduring the menacing heat reflected off the surface of the asphalt their roots run under. Their roots must run deep drinking water from the earth itself, for no one tends to these trees. They grow haggard and wild in between office buildings and through chain-link fences. They must relish the carbon dioxide left by car exhausts waiting in the fast food lines nearby. They stood sentinel through drought, desert wind, and snow storm.
Like all things that stand tall and forgotten, these lone sentinels deserve their rest. Though with no one to relieve them of their duty, they get no respite. They continue to stand. Forgotten and untended, they rot in place as their clipped branches still reach for the clouds.
Holding their position, the ridged bark that protected them slowly peels off. Yet those resilient trees stand. They stand day in and day out, their only companions the passing sun and stars above. They stand till they no longer remember what they stand for. For if no one remembers that they stand there, how can they be expected to remember what they stand for?
Giving the 1414 Mulberry Tree a New Duty
Instead of letting these lone sentinels stand long and unforgotten, let us relieve them of their duty. We can take them out of their spots in the hot parking lots, growing through cracks and furrows in the asphalt. We can give them a new duty and charge them with adding to the warmth of our homes.
My father and I have taken one of these long-forgotten trees and given it a new duty. I have charged it with living again as functional art. See below for all the items I've made from this Mulberry tree that comprise the Live edge 1414 Mulberry wood Collection. Click on the links to read more about the functional art, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and tik tok to see what we are working on. Or you can message us at lumberjim.ep@gmail.com to commission custom pieces from the wood in your yard.
"You spent time in its shade. We'll make sure its memories never fade." – LumberJIm
Learn more about Mulberry trees and see out other Mulberry Wood Collections. Or View some of our other Live Edge Lumber Collections.
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