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[nottke <nottke1@earthlink.net>]

I live in Richard Moyer's "over the mountains" in NC (west of
Winston-Salem) in an area labelled "Extreme Drought" by the various Ag
authorities.  And it is extremely dry; Yadkin River at half of its previous
record low flow, large number of wells have gone dry.
But my pawpaws are doing well and a number of local trees have very good
fruit set and large fruit - all these trees are middle age and located in
less than half sun and at the bottom of slopes or on the edge of stream
bottoms.  My trees have a large doughnut of 3-5 inch deep mulch made of
composted leaves and dried grass clippings.  This summer they have also
supported a colony of Zebra Swallowtail butterflies.
Our pawpaws are ripening 2 weeks earlier than usual, and we had our first
local pawpaw fruit-tasting almost two weeks ago, comparing Overleese,
Sunflower, and a local wild native.
I have seen two trees on a west-facing slope that had 3/4 shade until a big
oak died a year ago, and those two pawpaw trees are about dead; many dead
limbs and only a few branches with normal leaf density and premature fruit
drop.

Jim Nottke
Pfafftown, NC
Hardiness Zone 7A