Found Some Persimmons Today

[lxskllr]

and holy shit were they good; the best I've ever had. I haven't found a tree in years, and these were perfect. I think the freezing temps made them especially tasty. One I think was a little fermented, and it was some of the best fruit I've had of any variety. I tried a bunch more, but couldn't replicate the magic fruit. I saved some seeds, and I'll see if I can get a tree going.

On the subject of fall food... I had roasted chestnuts for the first time yesterday. Pretty tasty, but kind of expensive at 50¢ a nut. Got those at Wegmans, and heated them up in the toaster over. I have some chestnuts I found also, and I'm gonna try growing those also. I need something besides black walnuts and acorns. The tree rats love them, but they're useless to me.

 

[Jeeebus]

Where do you live? We have a few decent persimmon varieties here, though I've never really loved the fruit enough to add it to my collection.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Thought this was going to be about golf and your first paragraph confused me.

 

[lxskllr]

Where do you live? We have a few decent persimmon varieties here, though I've never really loved the fruit enough to add it to my collection.

MD. Not sure of varieties. They're kind of rare, so they all look the same to me. I might see a tree every other year or so. I stopped traveling a lot outside for awhile, so the absence the last few years were an anomaly. The biggest thing is you have to get them *very* ripe. Otherwise, they have an unpleasant astringent bitterness.

Another tree I like finding is pawpaw. Ever had them? They taste kind of like banana, and are best when they look disgusting. I wouldn't mind growing those also.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Isn't a persimmon that fruit that makes your whole face collapse into a singularity as your lips pucker uncontrollably?

 

[lxskllr]

Isn't a persimmon that fruit that makes your whole face collapse into a singularity as your lips pucker uncontrollably?

Yup, but that's if you eat them when they aren't ripe. They should be very squishy, and easily come off the branch when you pull it. It should take almost no effort to remove it.

 

[Mai72]

Meh.

Now if you find some truffles I might be a bit jealous.

 

[lxskllr]

Meh.

Now if you find some truffles I might be a bit jealous.

Those are easy to find. Wegmans has them for $1k per pound :^D

 

[Mai72]

Those are easy to find. Wegmans has them for $1k per pound :^D

Really? Wow. :biggrin:

 

[Jeeebus]

There are astringent and non-astringent varieties of persimmon. I believe Fuyu (the most common commercial variety) is non-astringent and can be eaten when firm. What grows in south Florida is all astringent, so yes, it needs to be very soft to eat.

 

[Printer Bandit]

never tried a truffle before. hopefully it doesn't taste like how it looks

 

[Mai72]

Truffles go for big bucks. I'm still trying to figure out why.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

that's funny. my parents have a persimmon tree so they gave me a bunch of the fruit. not really a big fan so they're just sitting out probably until they rot.

 

[BoomerD]

I had neighbors in California who had persimmons and pomegranates. They always ended up rotting on the ground because almost no one wanted any of either fruit.

I tried persimmons a couple of times. Never could develop a taste for them...and poms...way too much work for the little you get.

 

[Leyawiin]

We don't have native persimmons in California, but they grow a ton of the Japanese varieties. The Hachiya is the most common and you definitely have to wait until its very soft ripe to eat. The Fuyu can be eaten when its still hard (not bitter). The mushy ones are good for making cookies with. We had a small Hachiya tree in our front yard. Couldn't begin to eat them all so we gave a box to the senior center in town. Old folks grabbed them right up.

 

[RelaxTheMind]

my parents have 3 persimmon trees one of which is pretty big. i like em really ripe with that blue agave nectar drizzled over it. i add it to some smoothies we make too.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

and holy shit were they good; the best I've ever had. I haven't found a tree in years, and these were perfect. I think the freezing temps made them especially tasty. One I think was a little fermented, and it was some of the best fruit I've had of any variety. I tried a bunch more, but couldn't replicate the magic fruit. I saved some seeds, and I'll see if I can get a tree going.

On the subject of fall food... I had roasted chestnuts for the first time yesterday. Pretty tasty, but kind of expensive at 50¢ a nut. Got those at Wegmans, and heated them up in the toaster over. I have some chestnuts I found also, and I'm gonna try growing those also. I need something besides black walnuts and acorns. The tree rats love them, but they're useless to me.

You found chestnuts? Where? Never seen one I could just come across, and never a fruiting American Chestnut.

Wegmans has chestnuts here for $4.99 a lb.

 

[lxskllr]

You found chestnuts? Where? Never seen one I could just come across, and never a fruiting American Chestnut.

Wegmans has chestnuts here for $4.99 a lb.

The chestnut I found was on a job. I'm assuming it's Chinese chestnut, but I couldn't distinguish Chinese from American from sight. I should probably look into it. While it's unlikely an American made it through the blight, it's not impossible.

The chestnuts I roasted came from Wegmans, but they were $5.99 a pound here. That equaled ~50¢ a nut for the size I had.

 

[tcsenter]

On the subject of edible stuff that you encounter....

Growing up, there was a lot adjacent to our home with a bunch of trees on it. One of them, quite different from the others, produced multicolored berries; hues of purple, black, red, and blue on the same stem. At peak ripeness, the berries were really tasty, but eat them a week prior or later, and they were nasty.

It was a mulberry tree. I have NEVER had mulberries since moving from there, NEVER a mulberry except for there, and I have NEVER encountered another mulberry tree.

 

[lxskllr]

On the subject of edible stuff that you encounter....

Growing up, there was a lot adjacent to our home with a bunch of trees on it. One of them, quite different from the others, produced multicolored berries; hues of purple, black, red, and blue on the same stem. At peak ripeness, the berries were really tasty, but eat them a week prior or later, and they were nasty.

It was a mulberry tree. I have NEVER had mulberries since moving from there, NEVER a mulberry except for there, and I have NEVER encountered another mulberry tree.

I have those in my yard. The birds love them, but I find them kind of meh. They have a thin sweetness, that's good considering it's found food, but doesn't compare favorably to the raspberries and blueberries that are coming up about the same time. They also get little bugs on them. I eat them anyway, but I prefer not seeing my food move :^D

 

[Jeeebus]

On the subject of edible stuff that you encounter....

Growing up, there was a lot adjacent to our home with a bunch of trees on it. One of them, quite different from the others, produced multicolored berries; hues of purple, black, red, and blue on the same stem. At peak ripeness, the berries were really tasty, but eat them a week prior or later, and they were nasty.

It was a mulberry tree. I have NEVER had mulberries since moving from there, NEVER a mulberry except for there, and I have NEVER encountered another mulberry tree.

We have two mulberry trees and a dwarf mulberry bush. The kids (5 and 3) love eating them and gobble them up, so I rarely get to eat any. I like the ones we get - they have a fairly intense sweetness.

We have a "few" other fruit trees in the yard - mangoes, lychee, carambola (star fruit), japanese plum, longan, blueberries, jaboticaba, cherry of the rio grande, grumichama, dragon fruit, peach, abiu, jujube, malay apple, miracle fruit, pineapple, lemon, avocado, passion fruit... and I'm sure others that I can't recall offhand.

For some of the trees, we have multiple varieties (I think we have 12-15 different mango varieties).

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I'm assuming it's Chinese chestnut, but I couldn't distinguish Chinese from American from sight.

I have a couple of those and while you probably know the difference many mistake chestnuts for horse chestnuts which are inedible.

 

[tcsenter]

We have a "few" other fruit trees in the yard - mangoes, lychee, carambola (star fruit), japanese plum, longan, blueberries, jaboticaba, cherry of the rio grande, grumichama, dragon fruit, peach, abiu, jujube, malay apple, miracle fruit, pineapple, lemon, avocado, passion fruit... and I'm sure others that I can't recall offhand.

Damn! I'd like to have more land for more fruit trees (and a big azz garden) but we live in tract housing community now. It was tight getting in an orange, peach, apple, and nectarine tree on this space, keep having to cut them back. All of them have that leaf curl disease and will need to be removed in another year or two.

Also where I grew up, there were lots of wild blueberries and strawberries nearby. I remember as a kid being so impressed by the strawberry patches just growing wild. Of course, the berries are tiny compared to cultivated. Oh and lots of common English walnut trees. Never had to buy walnuts.

 

[KeithTalent]

Truffles go for big bucks. I'm still trying to figure out why.

Because they are freaking delicious and pretty rare too I suppose.

Never been a huge fan of persimmons. I don't mind them in things, but I would never buy one and just chow down on it.

KT

 

[Jeeebus]

Damn! I'd like to have more land for more fruit trees (and a big azz garden) but we live in tract housing community now. It was tight getting in an orange, peach, apple, and nectarine tree on this space, keep having to cut them back. All of them have that leaf curl disease and will need to be removed in another year or two.

Also where I grew up, there were lots of wild blueberries and strawberries nearby. I remember as a kid being so impressed by the strawberry patches just growing wild. Of course, the berries are tiny compared to cultivated. Oh and lots of common English walnut trees. Never had to buy walnuts.

It's not worth growing citrus here (my lemon trees are in pots). Canker has decimated the citrus population and there are several other diseases/bugs that are just as bad. Losing effort to grow citrus.