North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[nottke1 <nottke1@earthlink.net>]

Mark,
Don't take out the tree.
I live and harvest wild American Persimmons (D. virginiana) from a number of 
trees on my property.  The fruit ripen at various times depending on sun, 
soil conditions, and the particular tree.  Size ranges from ping-pong ball to 
golf ball size.  Most have 4 seeds, a few have zero to 3 seeds - all seeds 
are twice the length of a watermelon seed and are beige to dark brown. Some 
are non-astringent on the tree, most need to turn from yellow/orange to 
translucent orange to become non-astringent.  I have learned to recognize on 
each tree, when the fruit is 'ripe'.  Now to flavor.
Each tree has a different flavor.  Some are very good eaten out of hand, most 
are not.  The ones that don't taste sweet and complex as-picked are the ones 
that make the very best persimmon pudding - I will be glad to post the recipe 
- it is quite simple.
I have learned an easy way to separate pulp from skins/seeds using a woven 
wire deep fryer basket, so I freeze a lot of pulp in one cup portions in 
snack ziploc bags.  This year I was overwhelmed with fruit, so I still have 
over 100 lbs hanging on a few trees that I grew from seed collected from 
selected heavy producing trees in the area - I will leave those to the 
possums.
-----Original Message-----
>From: Mark Angermayer 
>This weekend I tried some wild persimmon.  The fruits were about golf ball
>sized and orange.  The skin was slightly wrinkled and the flesh was soft.
>They had a large seed in each one.  Some had dropped on the ground.  This is
>the first time I've ever had a chance to taste some wild persimmon, and it
>wasn't that good.  The flesh was slimy.  I would equate the taste experience
>to eating a plum imported from Chile.  Kind of a bland flavor, not all that
>sweet, with a yucky texture.


Jim Nottke
Zone 7
Pfafftown, North Carolina