Foraging for America's Forgotten Fruit | Hacker News Reader

Foraging for America's Forgotten Fruit

atlasobscura.com

52 pointssamclemens22 comments

Pawpaw's keep coming up recently:

Consider the Pawpaw (95 points, 7 months ago, 65 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39523641

Why don't grocery stores stock pawpaw fruit? (84 points, 9 months ago, 151 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38851025

It's not just here, I'm seeing a lot of attention on them this late Summer / early Fall?

I think it's interesting given the severe Ohio drought has wrecked a sizeable amount of the crop this year. I think they don't for very long, and flavor changes drastically as it over-ripens. I read last year that there was a new GMO's hybrid that is looking to become more commercially viable but couldn't find an update in looking now.

I picked some loquat the other day that were growing over a fence in my neighborhood. When I got home I just sort of stuck the seeds in a pot and forgot about them. A few weeks later they all started to grow! So I moved them all to large pots and have been every now and then day dreaming of all the other fruit I could grow.

Pawpaw feels like they would match the vibe of my loquat trees, and I bet they’d love the climate in Italy.

Hold your hopes.

Citrus plants are known for being extremely easy to hybridize. If there is a non-loquat citrus tree around your neighbour's house, then it is very likely that you will not have loquats in your new tree. It might very well be a hybrid of something else with a loquat. It will take you about three years to discover that.

If you want to be 100% sure you're growing a loquat, you'd better grow it from a branch cut.

Not a terrible thought, and loquats are highly variable in fruit quality, but loquats aren't citrus so there is no chance they will hybridize with it. It's in the rose family thus genetically closer to pears and apples, and (apparently) can reliably be grafted to quince rootstock. I think it's highly unlikely that anything but another loquat will pollinate it. Perhaps you are confusing it with kumquat? http://www.dbnursery.com/brendas-blog/what-is-the-difference...

Are you thinking of kumquats?

Oh sh*t!

My bad ... English is my 3rd language and I still do these embarrassing mistakes on it.

It’s OK. Unless people are very familiar with those fruits a lot of native English speakers will mix them up focusing on the “quat” part of the name which is odd in English.

I'd venture to guess that many native speakers neither know what a kumquat or loquat is.

Being born somewhere usually confers a decent vocabulary, but rare things are rare in any case.

More probable, Loquats are distant cousins of apples in the rose family.

I once made loquat cardamom jam from my loquat tree and it was legitimately one of the most satisfying thing I have ever eaten. On a buttered english muffin it was otherworldly.

Take in mind that it needs water. Is not a Mediterranean fruit.

Pawpaws are referenced in the song "Bare Necessities" from the 1967 Disney "Jungle Book" movie. Because of that I always assumed there were an exotic fruit that only grew in India or some faraway tropical land.

https://www.disneyclips.com/lyrics/lyrics2.html

I was well into my adulthood when I learned they grow right in my home state here in the US.

Pawpaw fruit does not look like a pear. That reference in the song is for a different fruit from genus Carica (Papaya). The true pawpaw is from genus Asimina.

Rain on the parade: pawpaws have a narrow ripeness window when they’re really superb, and squirrels can spot it easier than us and ruin them all.

Its a frustrating fruit to try and enjoy.

I live in WV. This explains why my local farmer's market doesn't stock them.

They also only have a shelf life of days or hours depending on when you pick them. That's the main reason

The article makes a passing mention that the skin and seeds are toxic, but I've heard that the flesh can be toxic too. The neurotoxin in question is annonacin: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annonacin So I'd recommend enjoying it only in moderation, and don't give it to your kids.

We used to have a stand of these on our farm that died years ago. So I found a supplier for native trees and replanted.

They started fruiting this year, and I was super excited. Every old person said they were great, the Internet said they were great. I remember loving them as a kid! How can I miss? I planned the exact species that was here before!

They taste like a banana and a sweaty gym sock had a baby, and that baby grew up raised by a pineapple.

They are gross.

Probably overripe. Is your tree grafted? What is the variety?

Time to consuming and cultivar are crucial to enjoy them. Fruits from wild seeds can be yucky also.

Pawpaws are delicious. If anyone reading this in California wants to try growing some here, it's possible!

https://crfg.org/homepage/library/fruitfacts/pawpaw/

I planted pawpaw trees in my yard about 3 years ago and finally have fruit this year

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