North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["JAMES ELIE" <tomelzear@earthlink.net>]

Hey Steve,

An American persimmon may be hardy enough for you.  I know the variety
Meader is supposedly hardy to minus thirty.  Another plus with Meader is
that it is self-fertile whereas other american persimmons would require you
to plant a male tree and a female tree.  I am borderline zones 4 and 5 here
in Green Bay Wisconsin and my Meader has done well.  I am still waiting for
my male tree reach maturity to pollinate my NC10, Garretson, and one other
variety (can't recall at the moment).  

In a sheltered spot, you might  be able to pull it off.  Good Luck with
things.

Jim Elie


> [Original Message]
> From: Steve <sdw12986@aol.com>
> To: NAFEx <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: 1/25/2009 2:59:34 PM
> Subject: [NAFEX] My first taste of persimmon
>
>
> I just ate my fist persimmon. I can't grow them here and I just never 
> did get around to buying one, until now.
> We drove over to Lake Placid yesterday to the largest supermarket in the 
> area. I had in mind that I would buy a new fruit that I had never tried 
> and persimmons were at the top of my list. They had them. Not a great 
> display of quality and some were obviously going bad. They were only 
> about 2 inches in diameter and they were $2 each. In spite of that, I 
> decided it was high time I tried persimmons and bought 2.
> I just ate the softer of the 2 and it wasn't bad. Very sweet. The skin 
> was kind of tough compared to the soft inside but it was very edible. 
> They each had a sticker that said produce of Israel. Maybe someday, I'll 
> get to eat one that hasn't traveled so far. If I ever end up far enough 
> south for Kaki Persimmons, I'll have to try growing them myself. Big if.
>
> Steve in the Adirondacks zone 4 on the map, zone 3 in real life.