Mulberry. Kievskaya street, Gelendzhik.

Mulberry is common in the south of Russia and the Caucasus region, including in cities. The fruit of the mulberry tree is edible and works well in jams, juices, jellies, and pies. It can also be made into wine, distilled to make spirit, or made into mulberry marmalade.

Nettle tortilla with mulberry marmalade. Presentation of Feral Forage project in the Street Art Museum, Saint-Petersburg. Photo by the Street Art Museum.

To make mulberry preserves, sprinkle the berries you have foraged with sugar and let sit for several hours. Once the mulberries release their juices, bring them to boil over low heat, then let cool. Then, cook the berries a second time for 15–20 minutes. Next, add agar agar to gelatinize. Dissolve the agar agar in hot water separately, then add to the berries, stirring well. The hot preserves are now ready to be jarred.

Mulberry marmalade. Photo by Petr Skrypnikov.

This work was commissioned for the exhibition “I don’t know whether the Earth is spinning or not...”, curated by Francesca Altamura and Lizaveta Matveeva for the VII Moscow International Biennale for Young Art.