Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Persimmons

We have a several persimmon trees around the property, although a lot of them didn’t make through the ice storm in January of 2009.  I’m sure there are more out in the back forty, but I really don’t feel like stomping around in the woods until the tick population has diminished some.
I heard that you can tell how harsh or mild the winter will be by looking at a split persimmon seed.  If it looks like a knife, winter will bring winds that cut like a knife.  If it’s a spoon (shovel), there will be a lot of snow.  And if it’s a fork (good eating), it will be mild.
Great.  Looks like a shovel if you asked me.
Even though it’s not quite time for harvest yet, I did find a persimmon on the ground & it was pretty mushy.  So, of course, I took a bite.  It wasn’t totally ripe yet.  And if you’ve ever bit into an unripe persimmon, you can relate.  If you’ve never had the “pleasure” of such an experience, let’s just say I wouldn’t wish that upon my worst enemy.  I’m hoping to collect enough for jam and breads and some for snacking on.  Although I’ll be eating positively, no doubt-about-it ripe ones. 
I’ve got to go and try to scrub my mouth out with a brillo pad now.

2 comments:

  1. We have a friend that has a couple native persimmon trees on his property. He told me to come down whenever I liked to get some before the deer get them all. I've never had persimmon before (native anyways). Do you have any good canning recipes?

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  2. I've never been able to get enough persimmons to make it worth canning. If I don't get many on our place, I think I'm going to ask around if anyone wants me to come pick up their unwanted persimmons. If I get enough, I'd like to try canning a persimmon jam and I'll post it here - after a taste test, of course! :)

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