Confessions - Persimmons

[Nifty]

For 40 years I've been completely bad-mouthing persimmons. I've honestly thought they were some of the worst fruits people could grow in their yards. I've been dissing them for as long as I can remember.

Well, a week ago my mom brought some over for us to try.

... and HOLY COW/. I actually liked them quite a bit!



My whole world felt like a lie.

I've been eating quite a few of them, and <GASP> have even considered growing some in our backyard.

Today I mad a smoothie out of persimmon + banana + protein powder, and I can't believe how tasty it is!

Did my tastes change over the years, or did I just have bad persimmons in the past? I've heard there are quite a few varieties.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've never tried the Japanese persimmons. I'm sure several people on the forum have. If memory serves me right @ninnymary has. I'll bet that is what your mom had.

The native American persimmon gets a bad rap. The main problem is not that the fruit is bad, but people don't know when to harvest it. They say you have to wait until after a frost. I did not find that to be true. I had to wait longer. I'd wait until it had shriveled up, turned brown, and did not look appetizing at all. They dried down to where they were waxy. Nothing fresh and juicy about them at all. Pop one of those in your mouth and wow!!! Try eating one before it is ready, it is so astringent your mouth puckers up.

You probably want a Japanese variety, I have no experience with them. The native American persimmon trees are sexed. A tree is either a male tree and does not bear fruit or a female that does. You need one of each for pollination. Not sure if that is true for the Japanese variety.

I copied this below. If you take several seeds off the same tree and open them you can get all three symbols so I really don't believe it, but it might be fun with your kids.

According to old-timers, persimmon seeds can be used to predict the severity of winter weather. When cut into two pieces, the persimmon seed will display on of three symbols. A knife shape will indicate a cold icy winter (where wind will cut through you like a knife). A fork shape indicates a mild winter. A spoon shape stands for a shovel to dig out the snow

 

[Nifty]

Ok, I just asked the person I got them from, and they said the variety is "Fuyu persimmons".

I'm surprised how sweet they are. I'd almost say the taste is a mix of apricot, honeydew, and kiwi... but different texture.

Here's a pic:

 

[flowerbug]

tastes do change too, but also in this case i'd suspect different variety was sampled early and gave a bad first impression.

as of yet i've not had persimmons, kumquats or figs from the tree and hope some day to try these.

my whole life i have liked sour and bitter things like grapefruits so i am not worried about a bad first impression.

i'm glad you are willing to try again and enjoying the experience.

 

[Nifty]

I had some from a friend when I was super young and hated them... so just assumed they were all the same.

I've mostly been eating them raw. The outer skin is a tiny bit more thick than an apple, but not bad at all. I just cut them in quarters, remove the 4 or so large seeds, and eat them up.

Seriously, I'm feeling guilty for bagging on them so hard for so many years

 

[baymule]

We have the small native American persimmons growing on our place. If we do as @Ridgerunner said, they are good. The sheep and dogs scarf them up as fast as they fall off the trees. I like them too!

I really should plant some of the Japanese varieties.

 

[Nifty]

From what I'm reading about the Fuyu, they are a non-astringent variety... which I guess means they can be eaten right from the tree?

 

[Zeedman]

From what I'm reading about the Fuyu, they are a non-astringent variety... which I guess means they can be eaten right from the tree?

And perhaps more importantly, Fuyu persimmons are sweet even while firm & crunchy. They ripen in the same season (and need roughly the same climate) as Asian pears. DW loves them, we are buying them by the case from a local Oriental market while they are in season (which is not much longer). I wish I could grow Fuyu's here (and Asian pears) but my climate is a zone or two too cold for them.

And when I read "confessions", my first impression was that you would admit to cutting the tree down... glad that was not the case.

 

[Nifty]

I'm in Zone: 9b, and this great article says they grow in 8 - 11

Fuyu Persimmon Tree Care

Fuyu persimmons grow best under full sun in 6.0 to 7.5 soil pH. They grow to 20 feet tall...

homeguides.sfgate.com

... but I didn't really need to even look that up since I know these were grown very locally. LOL!

 

[Ridgerunner]

The article says they are self-fertile so you only need one tree. Different from the native American persimmon.