It's not been a very good year around here for the Pawpaw tree's and there fruit. We had a very late freeze and it must have got them too like my apple tree's
That dosen't mean the deer won't stay around them in the early season, They love to eat there leaves almost as much as the fruit when they turn bright yellow and drop.
I checked all my areas and could only come up with a few to take picks of not enough to harvest.
Tracy
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Pawpaw tree's are often confused for being a smooth bark hickory. They only grow around here to 20ft or so and have huge leaves to provide plenty of shade and food.
This pick is taken on the edge of the grove and the deer are always in here during the early season.
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As soon as I walked inside this grove there were beds and trails everywhere. I did here some animals run off before entering but it was so loud from all there acorns falling it sounded like it was raining at times. The turkeys are going to love that!
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I found a few really small ones down low on a tree so I thought I would show you what they look like. Sure wish they were ripe even the small ones taste great.
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They get alot bigger than this but they always have about the same amount of seeds. Don't forget to save they seeds and take them back out to the same spot or a new place and plant them in about a inch of dirt. Nature will do the rest if all the animals don't dig em up.
When there green like this they are not ready, Far from it. The skin will turn dark brown almost black and the flesh will be very soft to the touch. You can smell a Pawpaw when it's ripe and if it's a good year you can smell them from quite distance away. So can all the animals and they don't last long.
They tast like vanilla pudding or custard and you can use them in lots of different recipes from muffins to pancakes. Check it out on the web there's lots of sites for them.
If anybody has some good picks please post them, So while your out hunting and scouting don't forget to look for them and injoy!
Tracy
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I did check all of my Pawpaw areas.. No fruit that I could find this year.. My Persimmions are absolutely loaded down with fruit.
JDS III
There used to be a good patch up the road from Me Tracy when I was a kid. The County came through and widened the road and cut the right of way back a 100' and I've never found anymore in this area. I might have to get some seeds from You and start another patch.
I now grow my own pawpaws. They grow abundently in NC and other states around here. I dug up two from a creek named Pawpaw Creek which, as the name suggest, has a lot of them growing along it's bank. Then I got two other varieties from a nursery. This is the first year that I had more then I could eat and give away. My favorite is one called a mango pawpaw. It's larger, and has a good flavor.
This year is the first year that something has been eating the pawpaws. None of them that fell from the trees were still there the next day. Both deer and groundhogs have been seen in the yard. Probably both of them have had their share.
As of last week, all of the pawpaws on these trees are now gone. I'd estimate there was over a bushel of them on the five trees in the yard. I'd recommend them for edible landscaping for human or animal consumption. Also, they are a lot more prolific when you plant them where they have little competition.
Our native pawpaw ripens earlier than this, in June. They are common here.
Don, How about sending me a couple of your pawpaw seed. I would be interested in seeing how they grow here, and whether they would ripen here in NC that early. Our pawpaws started ripening about the end of August. And I would be happy to reciprocate.
2fletch, if you can remind me next June... I don't have any on hand. There's a good patch of them right across the road from my house, where I pick morels in the spring. I'll be glad to collect some next season.
The paw paws here are not quite ripe yet. They will ripen off the tree so if you find some green ones on the ground take em home and they'll be good in a couple weeks.
Tracy, thanks for the pics! We have a small grove behind the house along the cric! Went last night to check, and only a few fruit, but my persimmons are loaded! What's the story on your bow in the pic? Looks like a nice osage stick! Good shootin, Steve
Thought I would bring this old thread back up because its time around here for eating Paw Paws! We picked a bunch today off just a few trees and its a very good year for fruits and nuts, The deer should have a good fall and early winter.
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For anybody new when the fruit is as soft as a banana and smells awesome its ready to peel and eat, the skin will get brown spots on it too. My daughter in-law has been making breads, muffins, pancakes and smoothies all kinds of things. anything you can make with banana's you can make with paw paws.
Tracy
My wife and I did a river trip this weekend and we brought a few home.
There wasn't a whole lot of fruit on them this year.
I found a paw paw patch on the bank of the TN river near Florence Al. The patch is mostly small saplings with a few mature trees and seldom has fruit because the patch is below a bluff on the north side of the hill in the shade.
3 years ago there was a bunch of fruit so I collected a pile of seeds and followed the planting procedure outlined on the net which included a freeze cycle.
I planted about 25 seeds and gave an equal amount to several of my friends, not one seed sprouted.
This year has been a poor year for fruit, I only collected 4 seeds from one paw paw which I am going to plant as soon as the extremely dry conditions we now have change.
I can't believe that the season varies so much around the country. I had 3 varieties of PawPaw growing in the yard and they ripened starting about the first of October and now are gone. I caught a raccoon in them this year so you can add them to the list of animals that eat PawPaw.
I also have a Chi tree growing in the yard. It's a Chinese tree in the Mulberry family. The one that I have is grafted to Osage root stock and it is loaded this year with round red berries that look like the osage fruit but only about 3/4" diameter. The interesting thing about them is that the birds have nothing to do with it and so far neither does any of the usual array of animals. It's the only thing in the yard that is very eatable to humans yet left alone by birds and animals.
Thanks KS Trapper for bringing this back up. PawPaws play a big part in my "Edible Landscaping"
I've never heard of a Paw Paw. it has my intrigue
but not sure how they would handle a northern climate.
I've been wanting to plant some pawpaw trees. You guys may have just pushed me over the edge. Apparently one of the local universities specializes in studying them and I found a local nursery that is supposed to have a good selection. I'm blaming you guys!
I planted two small pawpaw trees in my yard a couple of years ago. Each tree is a different variety. I can't wait until they produce. It is about time to check the wild trees to see if they have any to share.
I have Pawpaw trees sprouting everywhere in the yard. Anyone coming through Mebane, NC by way of I-40m, I-85 is welcome to stop by for a while and take a sprout, or two with them. Pawpaws will never have much commercial value because of their short shelf life, but they are nice to have in the back yard or in a hunting area.
I had 3 different varieties of Pawpaw but one called the Mango Pawpaw has produced the largest (about 9-10 ounce) and best fruit. It's a smaller tree and not as productive as the others, but it has nice fruit.
sound good, any PawsPaws in North west Arkansas.
There is a blight affecting the pawpaws here, and I haven't seen any fruit lately. After blooming the ends of the twigs are turning black and dying.
I have 2 pawpaw patches, both flower each spring but I never get fruit. Any suggestions? The vegetative growth is good.
Pat B, pawpaws are harder to pollinate than most plants as the flowers don't attract bees. I believe the pollination is more hit and miss by random flying insects. Also, I believe pawpaws will only cross with trees that are not directly related to each other. I planted my trees so they will touch each other when grown hoping they will produce better.
Paws paws grow well in the colder climate. I live in ohio and my place is thick with them. They are heavy with fruit again this year. Another week & they will be starting to ripen. Just in time for season opener. Athens Ohio has a paw paw festival every year in Sepember. You can go to website www.ohiopawpawfest.com (http://www.ohiopawpawfest.com) & get a lot of info. I have dug up the seedlings 2 to 3' high & transplanted. They are pretty hardy been need open spaces to thrive. Paw paw are the first of anything here to bloom in the spring. Deep purple flower. Deer love them!
I remember when you showed me Paw-Paw's when we were hunting together bud....had never heard of them.
There's a bunch over on Kenny's place to I seen when I was there Curt, Terry was hunting by a big grove of them but I didn't see any fruit. We will have to check again this year and I talked to Kenny and he said the white oaks are overloaded just like hear too. That was a good thing and were I found all my deer, that white oak in the front yard of the cabin is the biggest one I think I've ever seen. :scared:
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Tracy
Man are we ever gonna have a great time with Terry and Charlie!!!!
WTPops,
There are lots of pawpaws in NWA. I have a few fruits to deseed and try and sprout in my shop now. If you are planning to be at ARROW I'll try and remember to bring a couple.
They aren't just super common, but are widely distributed.
Got lots of small trees around. 10-15 footers but I never find any fruit on Thames and am in woods starting in early sept. Any ideas? I always wondered why I haven't found 1 single fruit.
Tracy, I remember that tree. It was hard to walk under it without sliding on acorns and getting hit by a few.
Charlie, I made the mistake of walking outside one night to my truck barefoot. That was a bad idea those acorn hulls tore me up. Lol!
Rifleman, the only thing I've noticed is the trees that are more out in the open do not seem to produce but the trees in heavy cover usually do some years better then others. What are your trees? We do have years when there are late frost and a lot of trees get hammered but I can find a few if I look around hard enough.
Even in these good years I can look hard and long at some trees and never see a single fruit, grab the trunk and give it some good shakes and watch out they come falling down. I've done several times already this season but you still only get a few off each tree
Tracy
The trees in my yard have had Pawpaws every year. Some of the trees in the wild probably have to much competition from other trees and plants, or don't get enough sunlight. Two of the trees, even though in moderate shade, still produce a lot of them.
In an earlier post I mentioned a Che tree that I had. I misspelled it as "Chi".
Very neat thanks for sharing. We don't have those up here. I have always read about the deer eating them
Up!