More Persimmons, please!

Last Saturday, Jason and I drove all the way to Tomball, TX to pick Asian Fuyu persimmons from Matt Family Orchard. Fall is the season in which they ripen, and I have been looking forward to our trip for weeks! My dear friend Sarah Kindelan Crawford (pictured below) first introduced me to persimmon pickin' several years ago at an orchard near Starkville, MS.

That experience revived in me a love for Asian persimmons which had begun when I was very small. My neighbor, Big Keith, would give us a couple huge persimmons every fall, and I remember them being so delicious. We had persimmon trees all throughout our woods at home, but they were tiny, bite-sized, and often bitter with a large seed in the center. If you have ever bitten into one of those tiny persimmons before they are ripe, it is quite possibly one of the worst tastes you may ever experience. That is because of the high level of tannin in the fruit...sort of like a very, very green banana. It makes your mouth physically shrink up, and you may never be tempted to try another persimmon again. Fuyus on the other hand, are large and sweet, and you can either eat them just like a crisp apple right off the tree, or can wait patiently until they are extremely ripe. Though it's hard to wait, I like them best when they are mooshy and sweet!

Matt Family Orchard has several thousand trees which are apparently about 16 years old, though they are cut back to make it easier for picking. Most of the trees were loaded down with fruit just like this one.

 

We had some competition with the wasps and caterpillars.

Besides Asian persimmons Matt Family Orchard has blackberries, figs, jujube (Asian dates), Asian pears, pumpkins and citrus. I'm already looking forward to going back next year for fruit and a picnic!

Almost a week later, I still have persimmons for days, though I've been eating a ton! Today I made persimmon ice cream by adapting a recipe for pumpkin pie. Sadly, Jason doesn't really like persimmons, so I guess I'll have to eat all of it by myself....darn.