While those of you in the Pacific Northwest are picking apples, we have a different fruit in season here in Houston.
Can you guess what it is?
Nope, not oranges.
Look closer.
Sometimes called the fruit of the gods, these are persimmons! This particular variety is the Asian (Shizi) Persimmon found at the Matt Family Orchard.
It was a breezy, muggy, mosquito filled morning but worth it! They gave us gardening shears to cut the bright orange fruit from the branches.
With 1,100 persimmon trees, we had many a branch to choose from!
Talk about YUMMY loot!
When I was little, my mom would get these from Ko-Ko's market. I had a hard time distinguishing this deliciously sweet fruit from a tomato. (Hey, I said I was little!) I didn't learn the name of this fruit until I was an adult.
And now I can eat as many as I want! Because I'm a grown-up! Woohooo!
Even though I'm sure my mom would still tell me to eat only one so I don't get a tummy ache.
To find a pick-your-own farm or orchard in your area, visit www.pickyourown.org.
15 comments:
so fun! We went to an apple orchard once and I really enjoyed it!
:)
{HUGS}
Ohhhhhhh...... I'll trade apples for persimmons any day. BUT, you can keep the danged mosquitoes. :P I love you!
Oh my goodness! I would just LOVE that!!! I LOVE persimmons! We ate it so much growing up! i wonder if it's a Korean thing? Just make sure they are ripe, eh? It's so gross when they are ready and they make your tongue all hairy feeling and stuff!
How much does it cost? Is it per bushel? How come I didn't get to do anything fun like that while living in Texas? (yeah, keep your giant texas-sized mosquitos!)
Cool! What a fun family thing to do!
I was born in Japan and my parents loved the persimmons there. In San Diego we had a very fruitful tree and when I moved away, my parents would overnight me "kaki" or Japanese persimmon.
They had to leave their tree behind when they moved up here. Seeing your pictures made me miss those persimmons. Enjoy a few for me :)
I thought persimmons were tomatoes, too. LOL At first, I thought those trees in your photo had orange leaves and you went on vacation somewhere up in the northeastern states. After reading the rest of your post, I couldn't be more wrong. =) I wish Texas had a more colorful fall season. What I'd give to see just a little bit of color around here.
That sounds like fun! Where I live, it's very common to see persimmon trees growing in peoples' yards. :) I haven't ever seen that variety before, though. All of the ones here are more of the size of a small plum.
Hannah
http://hannahbraboy.com
Wow! I have never tried one.
What kind of a texture do they have on the inside? Is it like a tomato? Hmmm...now I am curious to try one. :)
We have a persimmin tree in our backyard. I think it is the smaller variety mentioned above. I've never eaten one, I'll have to try it. There is "an old wives" tale about being able to predict the severity of the winter by cutting one open. Supposedly there will be a knife, spoon or fork shape inside. I don't know what each indicates, but the spoon means snow to shovel. We need to go cut one open and see what it has inside this year!! Glad y'all had a fun field trip!
You know...we have one of those trees in our backyard...if you come up here I'll let you pick as many as you want! :)
I've never ever eaten one. What does it taste like? I'll have to try it. I have some fake ones in Italian pottery that look startlingly real. I'll have to take a pic and show you!
The asian persimmons were sold by the pound ($1.39/lb?). The difference between the asian variety and the American one is that the asian ones are still firm when they are ripe. The American ones that grow in my in-law's yard are very very soft when they are ripe.
Either way, you just peel and eat! They are very sweet and this variety has the texture that is similar to a ripe peach (firm but soft at the same time).
We had a persimmon tree in our yard, when I was growing up. All it took was eating ONE before it was ripe.
I LOVE persimmons! One of the many things I miss living here. I have great memories going hunting for persimmon trees with both sets of my grandparents.
My mom has a great recipe for persimmons. I'll get it from her and pass it along. My grandpa looked forward to it every year and even after my mom and dad divorced (Dad's dad) she would still make it for him occasionally:)
Marsha,
The farm stand we used to live near had persimmons. She would always have samples of what she sold and she got my kids hooked. I wasn't such an easy target. I have to be in the mood to try something new and I wasn't in the mood that day. Finally when I did try them, I didn't like them. I think I should try again because I already had my nose turned up before putting some in my mouth. The persimmon never had a chance.
We missed the apple orchard this year. Living on this side of the map is hard. In California, we had many fruits and vegetables available to us year-around. I guess I'll have to get in line w/how the schedule runs over here.
The day looks like it was beautiful.
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