Posted on September 19, 2019
(Third Thursday in September)
Pawpaw? Like in the Jungle Book?
When Baloo the bear sings,
"When you pick a pawpaw
Or a prickly pear,And you pick a raw paw,
Next time beware!"
- Well, I've always pictured a pawpaw being a large, tropical fruit. I mean...TROPICAL. Like near the equator. Definitely not something I could grow in my own backyard.
But in actual fact, many pawpaws are native to North America and grow in the south but also in mid-western and eastern woodlands all the way up to the southern parts of Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York!
And they can grow over much of the continental U.S. if you protect them from harsh cold and provide enough moisture!
Who knew?
 |
| Above, when the pawpaw is ripe, it is a bit soft and more mottled in its coloration. Below, the seeds are very large and not very numerous. |
Okay, if pawpaw fruit can be grown in so many places, why do I not see it in the grocery store? Why do I ONLY know it from Baloo?
According to this gardening expert, the pawpaw isn't a commercially practical fruit because it cannot be shipped from farm to grocer!
Apparently, the fruit is yummy: sweet, creamy, and complex, a bit like a mango-banana-apricot, with hints of vanilla and citrus! (???!!!!)
Did you know...?
Apparently deer find pawpaw foliage yucky, and so they tend to eat other seedlings and saplings way more than they do pawpaws. That means that the pawpaw trees are getting more numerous!
I read that some chefs with restaurants are using pawpaw fruit in their creations - which is a great idea, since this delicious food is hard for most of us to use in our
cooking because of the lack of pawpaw
stands and grocery displays.
Of course humans have a lot of competition for pawpaw fruit - birds and small mammals love to eat it, too!
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