About 10 years ago planted two paws in the yard this is the first year I've seen fruit ,green kidney shaped.How do you tell when their ripe??I can see why they talk of a paw paw patch they seem to send up new trees from the roots.Frank C.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but they turn a pale yellow and soften up alittle. The seeds are rather large. If I'm not mistaken, I believe (around here anways) it's about mid september they are startin to drop. maybe someone else will chime in with their vast knowledge.
Just curious bandmiller2, Did you buy the trees or dig them up? Are they planted in "full" sun? How big are they? They seem to favory the "dark" sides of the hollows and understorys by the river. I had one heck of a time tryin' to dig acouple up. One didn't make it, the other I think is going to pull through.
Are going to get enough fruit to make anything?
Thanks and good luck!
Ironmower,thanks for your reply,paws are not native here I bought the small trees from a mail order nursery Gurneys I think.I planted them as an understory tree,near my hybred chestnut trees,they seem to like the shade.I know for a fact they grow from roots of outher paws,and if dug in the wild you would be hard pressed to get enough root for them to survive.What would help is to severly prune back the top when you dig one .Ill watch them and when I see a color change feel them and go from there.Frank C.
Paw paw is ripe when you shake the tree and it falls off. That is a day after the raccoon picks it and eats it. You will want to catch them when they fall off, they are very soft and bruise easy.
Everyone should eat at least one paw paw in their life. Oh yeah don't eat the skin, spit it out, it ruins the flavor.
You have my interest. What does the Paw Paw look like up there ?
Here we have Papaya also called Paw Paw. It is from 6 inches long to 18 inches and 1 to 15 pounds.
They are full of seeds that look like rabbit crap and the leaves are like maple leaves but 12 to 18 inches long. It grows from seed and is in full production in 9 months. The taste is like cantalope and is good as fruit or juice.
I found one pawpaw tree in our woods a few weeks ago. The leaves were about a foot long ovals that came to a point on the end and a few inches wide. There were 4 fruits on one little stem, but they weren't ripe. A few weeks later, they were gone when I went to check on them.
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These paw paws were ripe! Delicious too ;D.
yum,
Finding paw paw is one thing I miss with my move west.
I have never had them, my sister n law planted some on my place but they either didnt survive or haven't grown enough to produce a leave that I can find. I want to get some going myself just so I can try one :D She said they are similar in flavor and consistency as a Banana but as shown look more like a avocado. they are a lot different than the Papaya which grows halfway around the world and I have had :) :D PAW PAWS do live around here but are near their northern end of survivability I think.
Mark
8)
Jim King, I've read that paws are in the same family as papaya.I haven't eaten one yet but lived in the Phillipines for two years and have grazed on many papayas,if you eat much you don't want to stray too far from the outhouse.Frank C.
I live about 7 miles from the little town of Paw paw Wv. That's where my 2 boys go to school.
I have a t-shirt from the fair that says: A town so nice, they named it twice. ;D Supposedly George Washington named the area Paw paw bends, for the giant groves of paw paws along the potomac river. This was when a young Washington was a surveyor for Lord Fairfax.
The paw paws are thin around here this year, I guess cuz it rained the whole time they was in bloom. ::)
Our paw paws grow mostly along shaded creek banks. The fruit will be green and then ripen, fall off, and be gone if you don't watch closely.
I was in another part of my county and found the paw paw trees just loaded. they're growin in double clusters. As of thursday they still aren't ripe. :'(
I found my first on a Scouting hike a few weeks ago, it was the only thing that came to my mind as I had never seen this tree up this way (SW Pa.). Thanks for the confirmation. It was up at 1900' on the Chestnut Ridge.
Ironwood
I have never seen one of course up here in the arctic, but they also remind me of a mango. It's exciting enough to find butternuts and hazelnuts in this region. ;D :D Young folks used to pick sack fulls of hazelnuts to sell road side. It was mainly in the Acadian region.
Well the paws just fell off the tree early nov. I put them on the window sill and couple of days soft and delicous,no shortage of large seeds.Wife is from the phillipines says they have a fruit that tasts the same but looks a little differant.Seeds saved and in refer. will plant next spring have my own patch with a little luck and a tailwind.Frank C.
Around here, what we call paw paws, look like green softballs and smell like bannaas.
I also recommend that everyone try a paw paw, they are excellent and full of vitamins and minerals!!!! ;D
I ate a pawpaw fruit I found several years ago that I had found on our river property here. I brought it home and, since it was a fairly large fruit, I only ate about 50% of it. I have never puked my guts up harder than I did that evening. It got to be painful.
I may plant the tree for wildlife at some point, but I can guarantee I will never eat it again! lol
...just a little 'fyi', y'all. :)
The ones that I ate were very sweet and digested well :).
Brian, are you quite sure it was a paw,and was it ripe?if so you must be alergic to them.They have alot of large seeds and should be tasty.checked my wild edible plants book says they don't agree with some folks.Frank C.
Wow, WDH, your pucture of a hardhat of paw paws is more than I've seen in my entire career! They're not a very common tree here, and wildlife usually get them before they're ripe enough for people to eat. I ate my first and only paw paw in my fortyieth year. Tasted to me like a barbarcued banana, if you could barbarcue one of those things. That's also the year I got my first and only obscene phone call. A momentous occasion, turning 40.
Ones I saw were big, HUGE , and still on the tree. Do they need to fall before you can eat them? Or can you pick them and then ripen at home?
(northerner w/out a clue.) Ironwood
Ironwood,if their almost mature yet still green you can put them on a windowsill they will ripen in a couple of days.
Thanks wish had known. Next year!
Ironwood
We checked on the Paw Paws yesterday and few are starting to ripen. In about 2 weeks most of them will be ready. Some trees are really loaded. We even saw a 4 cluster.
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My Son and I in the Paw Paw Patch, taken July 4th.
Magic, how do you tell their ripe,they must still be green.This spring I tried pollinating with an artest brush can't see as it helped much my trees have fruit but not loaded.Frank C.
A slight yellowish tint, and not as firm. If they will shake off they are ready, but they bruise so easily. I would rather pick them.
The Paw Paw seedling I purchased this spring I planted in full sun, in a field. I see most of you have them in an understory. Will they do o.k. where they are?
Paw paw is adapted to be somewhat shade tolerant as an understory species. That is one of the reasons for the big leaves. Who knows, it might really take off in full sun. In the wild, it is rather slow growing, so other trees easily overtop it, so is has learned to live in the understory. Let us know how it does in full sun.
Dana,I have read the seedlings and smaller trees need shade once they mature they do better with more sun.Would probibly be good form to build a little frame with cheese cloth over it at least until they get established.Planted mine along the edge of larger trees and they are doing well,and spreading.Frank C.