A Lasting Harvest - Story of an American Persimmon
Updated: 3 days ago
Sue Hunter, Owner, Heartwood Nursery
Many years ago I was driving with my youngest son and happened upon a majestic native Persimmon tree in full fruit along the side of a busy road in the village of Quinn, in Baltimore County.
Turning the car around, I pulled into the driveway of the house where the tree was precariously situated on the steep bank along the road. The house looked abandoned--blinds pulled, overgrown yard, no vehicles in the driveway. My son, whose name also happens to be Quinn, pulled at my jacket sleeve, telling me we needed to “get out of here.”
Undeterred, I walked up to the house and, after hearing the sound of a radio faintly playing music, knocked on the door. The person who opened the door must’ve been watching us all along, given the speed of answering my knock. I quickly said that I had been admiring the Persimmon tree, and asked, “ Would you be so kind as to give me permission to gather some of the persimmons from your lawn?"
"Take all you want" was the quick reply, and immediately the door softly closed with a loud click of the lock.
This was the beginning of my relationship with this Persimmon tree. Quinn and I gathered pounds of the fruit, and after the promise of Persimmon pudding, he agreed to help me clean the pulp off the seeds, which were mainly what I was interested in.
Have you ever cleaned the pulp from native Persimmons? It takes quite a while, because you need to remove the skin of the small, ripe fruit. Then you slough the pulp off the seeds inside. Together we did this by hand.
There is a reason, though, that Persimmons are often referred to as “food of the gods.” The fruits only become ripe after a frost, changing dramatically from a smooth plum-like appearance to a wrinkly, orange apricot. The wrinkly, orange stage is when they are at peak ripeness--with flavor sweet like honey, mango, apricot and spicy vanilla.
Persimmon fruit can be eaten raw, and the pulp can be used in bread, cookies and Persimmon pudding!
For years, I drove by this Persimmon tree, observing her in all seasons and collecting her bounty for Persimmon pudding and seed to grow here at Heartwood.
During Covid, when things were shut down, I had to change my driving route. It makes me sad to write that upon returning to my regular driving route after Covid, I was shocked to see this beautiful Persimmon tree had been cut down to the ground. I have failed at finding a justifiable reason why someone would do this, other than lack of knowledge and appreciation for this beautiful native fruit tree, whose stump remains a sorrowful memory.
At Heartwood, all of our mature native Persimmon trees are children of the exceptional tree from the village of Quinn. These are the trees we collect our seed from, to provide our customers with local ecotype seedlings that will do well in this area.
Persimmon trees take time to get established. Seedlings are best planted when 2 to 3 years old for optimum root development. They need regular watering from March through November to prevent winter desiccation.
Persimmons are a dioecious tree. This means the trees are either male OR female. The only reliable way of identifying male or female is by the flowers in the springtime. So I suggest planting at least three trees if you have the room for them, as this increases the chances of having both male and female.
With proper planning and some patience, you can have a Persimmon grove that will produce fruit for years to come!
