I had a couple of large pawpaw trees in the backyard of the house I lived in when I went to University of Michigan (and later lived for a while after graduation), and I saved a lot of seeds. They pretty much all germinated and I'm in the process of growing a bunch more in my new place a few towns over and with a lot more acreage. There are now quite a few growers and professional greenhouses with trees available, so you don't have to wait 20 years to see fruit. I bought a couple 5 year old trees and I'm giving them one more season to finish establishing before I actually let them fruit, but they did produce blossoms last year and if I'd wanted to pollinate them, I could have had a few hands. Usefully, they are relatively unattractive to the huge and very frustrating deer population in this area, so they're doing better than the tart cherries I spent a pretty penny on.
Consider the Pawpaw
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Re: Consider the Pawpaw
#62I planted a Pawpaw about 20 years ago. Can't say it's doing great but it's not dead yet. Takes like 20 years for them to start producing fruit. Last year one of my daughters told me it had a single fruit on it, and then told me she'd ate it, so I've still not seen a Pawpaw on it
Pollination is a whole adventure -- they're naturally pollinated by flies not bees, so you either need to hang a few dead animals in your tree or you need to figure out hand pollinating. There are some good resources at Kentucky State, and I've found the researcher there very friendly and approachable if you need some advice on it. Shoot her an email.
https://www.kysu.edu/academics/college-acs/school-of-ace/paw...
Re: Consider the Pawpaw
#63neurotoxic?
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22130466/
Re: Consider the Pawpaw
#64I've been harvesting these in the wild for years. They are pretty difficult to describe in flavor (banana/mango/tropical being a good approximation), as the flavor isn't consistent even between close patches. They have about a 3 week ripe window mid-to-end August (depending on the shade) in my area when they should be harvested. I typically just push on the slender tree & if any fall; they're ripe. It's best to harve…
I'm central Ohio and only heard of pawpaw fruit a couple times as a tiny child. Totally forgot they existed. Most of Dad's foraging was a different season (morels). How would one go about trying to find (relatively) local to try pawpaw when they're in season?
Take hikes near/along rivers. They tend to grow near them.
Re: Consider the Pawpaw
#65I've been slowly growing 3 trees over the past few years
Re: Consider the Pawpaw
#66I've been harvesting these in the wild for years. They are pretty difficult to describe in flavor (banana/mango/tropical being a good approximation), as the flavor isn't consistent even between close patches. They have about a 3 week ripe window mid-to-end August (depending on the shade) in my area when they should be harvested. I typically just push on the slender tree & if any fall; they're ripe. It's best to harve…
I've always been curious, but based on your description I need to try them! I know of a large tree on a trail I hike, but the only way I'll get one from there is by them falling on their own. They are always really squishy when I do come across one, so I've never been brave enough to take a taste. How do you know they are good or ripe?
The softer they are, the more ripe they are. Outwards, they may have a spot of browning towards the overripe end like a banana. The ones that I usually go for are green with a slight give.
Re: Consider the Pawpaw
#67Beware they can make you sick! A friend was at a potluck a few weeks ago and someone brought dehydrated pawpaw and it made almost everyone who ate it sick within a couple hours. Another account: https://nativebatch.com/2019/08/28/my-upsetting-experience-w...
Your anecdote sounds more likely a result of improper preservation than anything else, since it's unlikely everyone present would have had an intolerance. The author of the page you linked also seems to imply that their reaction was somehow specifically due to the annonacin, however I think a food allergy/intolerance is more likely (many people are allergic to citrus, or other tree fruit, for example). Annonacin toxicity is certainly a concern and effects of long-term exposure are not well understood, however the population from the most frequently cited study (namely, the well-known Guadeloupe study) also regularly consumed tea made from the leaves and bark of the tree which contain significantly more annonacin than the fruit -- in addition to eating several serving of the fruit nearly every day. I think for most, having a pawpaw every now and then will not do any harm. That being said, it is good to use a little caution when trying a new family of fruit (or plant in general) since you could be unlucky enough to have a reaction.
Re: Consider the Pawpaw
#68Or the prickly pear If you prick a raw paw, next time beware! Don’t pick a prickly pear by the paw, when you pick a pear try to use the claw! But you don’t need to use the paw when you pick a pear of the big pawpaw Have I given you a clue?
Was that from memory? If so, kudos to you!
My dad’s favorite movie growing up. He thinks of himself as Balloo incarnate. But I also have plenty other Disney songs memorized. Might be my only real talent!
Re: Consider the Pawpaw
#69Beware they can make you sick! A friend was at a potluck a few weeks ago and someone brought dehydrated pawpaw and it made almost everyone who ate it sick within a couple hours. Another account: https://nativebatch.com/2019/08/28/my-upsetting-experience-w...
Your anecdote sounds more likely a result of improper preservation than anything else, since it's unlikely everyone present would have had an intolerance. The author of the page you linked also seems to imply that their reaction was somehow specifically due to the annonacin, however I think a food allergy/intolerance is more likely (many people are allergic to citrus, or other tree fruit, for example). Annonacin toxi…
Most anecdotes on the internet align with the article I posted and point to cooked or dehydrated pawpaw as the offender not the raw pulp (as opposed to the skin).