Persimmon and pawpaw trees are fruiting right now! Stone Barns Center Horticulturalist Laura Perkins shares tips on how to harvest them. 

Why don't we often see persimmons and pawpaws in the market? They are highly perishable, meaning they bruise easily and need to ripen mostly on the tree, which makes them less than ideal for transportation. The flavor is often compared to a banana, mango, or a cross of the two. It is surprising to taste something so tropical in our Hudson Valley climate! One can remove the pulp of the fruit, freeze it, and make baked goods with it later, or use it to brew beer 🍻 Laura thinks they are a quintessential fall treat, to be celebrated and devoured when they are in season.

Pawpaws belong to an ancient plant family that goes back to the Miocene Epoch, before there were bees to pollinate flowers. Pawpaw flowers have a curious odor that attracts flies to pollinate them. Pawpaws are native to the rich river deltas of the Southeast, but they also have been found growing in western New York around Lake Ontario and the Finger Lakes.

Neal Peterson is credited with raising attention for pawpaws at Stone Barns by finding trees with exceptional fruit and improving on their genetics. In 2008 we bought cultivars from him, with names that harken to their origin: Potomac, Susquehanna, Shenandoah, Wabash, and Allegheny.

American persimmons, also a native fruit, are coming into season as well. They are beautiful, hardy trees that produce prodigious amounts of little orange fruits on the female trees. They are ripe when they are bright to deep orange and wrinkly. They almost look too ripe! Don't eat the persimmons before they reach this sweet, caramelized point, because underripe persimmons are unpleasantly tart and dry. Dry summers bring out the best in these fruits.

Unlike apples, pears, peaches, plums, and just about every other fruit you see in the grocery store, neither pawpaw nor persimmon have pests or disease concerns. If you're looking for fruits that don't require chemical inputs, these trees are perfect.

Are you growing persimmon or pawpaw trees in your garden or farm? Share your experience in the comments!