View Full Version : Persimmons
Today I picked persimmons. We didn't have a thread on persimmons until today as far as I know and should.:o
I'll add what I can here before my two weeks expire. The lack of information in the opening post need not keep anyone from adding additional on-topic posts.
Have at it. I'll be back.
laserlips
10-08-2009, 22:42
Well...I know if you can the pulp for use throughout the winter, it looks really strange but makes great bread.
What about a pawpaw thread?(hey, I just rhymed):p
What about a pawpaw thread?
We've already got one! Didn't a Frenchman atop a castle wall once respond in that manner? He didn't post a link to a pawpaw thread though.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40037
Persimmons are good eatin'. Awesome thread, Shades of Gray! :datz:clap
What I found on the ground today ranged from firm to mushy. I've read, once frozen, the astringent quality some have is eliminated.
Since we haven't had frost yet, I sampled them with caution. All were sweet without any hint of nastiness. Other times, I've frozen what seemed to be ripe fruit and they were still unfit to eat.
laserlips
10-08-2009, 23:04
Silly kniggits.
laserlips
10-08-2009, 23:05
BTW, they're better after a frost.(Persimmons, I mean)
Normally 2 or more trees are required for pollination. There are cultivars which are self-fertile, including Meader.
laserlips
10-08-2009, 23:08
So far I have had luck harvesting once thay pass the taste test, then parboiling and running through a food mill to get the pulp, then canning the pulp.Yes, it's a bit of fiddling but it's otherwise free food.
Ahh, persimmons, another deciduous tree found growing in the woods in the U.S., and rarely on residential lots, with delicious fruit when ripe, a worthy home garden tree. I vividly recall carrying big bags of the ripe fruit home in the Fall from a neighbor's fruit laden tree when I was young. I remember it so well because the neighbor's two trees were planted too close to the sidewalk so they paid me, in fruit or yummy persimmon bread(kinda like banana bread but with persimmons instead), to clean up the squished fruit on the walkway. The trees can be rather gangly and brittle so benefit from pruning at an early age to improve branch and trunk structure. However, there are varieties and cultivars now available with improved branching structure. The pruning also helps to avoid major branch breakage when the trees are heavily laden with fruit or during ice storms. Fall color of persimmon trees can be spectacular often rivaling that of the native witch hazels, maples, oaks, and sassafras. I've witnessed many a tree with yellow, red, and orange leaves all at the same time. Even without leaves, mature persimmon trees are rather easy to identify because they exhibit alligator skin-like bark. They work well in the mixed native shrub and tree borders along the perimeters of a property or as stand alone specimen trees.
I love persimmons, but I think they are not generally well understood in the U.S. There are astringent type fruit, which must be soft when ripe to eat, or the fruit is so tart they will suck the moisture from your mouth and have you wondering why anyone would ever eat this fruit, and non-astringent varieties, which can be eaten when still firm. The two most widely available and commercially grown fruit in the U.S., the astringent acorn shaped Hachiya and the non-astringent Fuyo, which I've heard aptly described as looking like a squashed tomato, can demand a rather steep price. Sometimes, I've seen Hachiyas go on sale at a reduced price because I think someone at the grocery store thought they were over ripe when in actuality they were at their sugary sweet jelly soft peak of ripeness. They don't last long though when fully ripe. The trees typically found in the woods are either the more common Diospyros virginiana, obviously found mainly on the east coast, and the somewhat lesser found Diospyros texana, obviously found more in the central mid west. Both these species bear delicious fruit, but are the astringent types so should be soft to almost mushy soft ripe to eat fresh out of hand.
Trailweaver
10-09-2009, 04:15
Persimon bread is reallllly good. Wish I had access to some persimons right now.
LaurieAnn
10-09-2009, 10:18
hmmm... persimmon fruit leather? persimmon sauce for pancakes? I'm going to have to buy some and play around with them. I find that they are fairly plentiful and reasonable in the grocery stores here come early December.
makes my mouth water and pucker at the same time! So VERY sweet when ripe but oh so bitter if not!! If you ever wanted to play a nasty mean trick on someone... or KEEP all the fruit to yourself later... just give them an unripe one.
People are not the only ones that enjoy persimmons. I've seen deer stand on their hind legs to eat the sweet fruit from the trees. (wouldn't you know... when you really wish you had a camera you're without!)
The seeds are often seen in scat when hiking or walking through the woods.
Kayakado
10-09-2009, 11:42
I have a Japanese persimmon tree in my backyard. Unfortunately, the previous homeowners planted it too close to the riverbank. The bank has eroded away making it difficult to pick the water side fruit.
They are related to the Ebony tree and that accounts for the brittleness of the limbs. Birds, squirrels, and raccoons love the fruit and often take a bite out of the fruit before we get to it. The fruit will ripen off the tree. They are very astringent when unripe. We often pick them and leave them on the window sill to ripen. They all seem to ripen all at the same time, so we scoop out the flesh, remove the seeds, and freeze the pulp. Recipes include cookies, puddings, sorbet, pies, breads, or just eating it in hand.
I see people have already begun to post about persimmons available commercially which I had expected to do myself when I got to it.:welcome
persimmon fruit leather?
I'd bet my last dollar that would be some good stuff. Buy Hachiyas rather than Fuyos and make sure they are fully ripe before drying them.
Keep posting. There's still plenty of material. I've got to clock some more time or I'd help.
LaurieAnn
10-09-2009, 13:11
Once they are available here I'll make some and if you want I can send you some to try.... provided I can get the H persimmons commercially... I've never seen a wild one.
You live north of the range of Appalachia's native persimmon.
leeki pole
10-09-2009, 13:52
My grandaddy always said persimmons were never good until after a frost. He lived to be 94 and we always took his advice. They make a real good jelly or preserves.
Jan LiteShoe
10-09-2009, 15:24
We've got a large native persimmon in our backyard, 25 feet or more tall - I tangled with the bulldozer driver, who wanted to take it out when they were clearing the scrub oak for our house. The persimmon lives. :)
It's a messy tree, but I love it. Reminds me of the Appalachian woods (I'm in the Sandhills, so not as much vegetative overlap as places just 20 miles north).
The only problem is, the pup (a young golden) loves those persimmons, and scarfs them up like candy. They are bad, bad, bad for dogs - can plug them up and cause enteritis. I do know he must have some interesting bowel movements, which are packed with seeds. I'll have to find a way to keep him separate from the treats.
Ours have been dropping for a month (zone 7b,/8a) and the dropped ones are sweet.
Any good recipes besides bread?
Jan LiteShoe
10-09-2009, 15:27
And what about beozars?
No one's talked about that:
:eek:
http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum/exhibits/virtual/hairball.html
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persimmon
Freaky.