AKA: Persimmons or Kaki(or Cachi)
There are a few trees in my downstairs neighbors yard and lucky for me...the hard to reach upper branches are accessible from just behind my wood pile!
I decided to have a little harvest time today and this is what I got.
A few are ripe enough to eat but the rest have some sitting around to do...let's hope the fruit flies don't come while I wait for ripeness.
Persimmons have to be one of my favorite fruits. They tastes like pie filling. I really didn't know much about them until I moved to Italy and every fall/early winter time these huge orangey-red, ripe and extremely delicate and delicious fruits start popping up in markets and grocery stores. They are always in plastic containers so that they don't break before getting them home...mine never make it!
Well, now I do not have to worry because I can just pick them out of the tree.
Persimmons originate in the east and now grow all over the world. Italy, in 2005, was the 5th largest producer in of them in the world. China, Korea, and Japan as the top three and number 4 a hop over the ocean in Brazil. Oddly Japan's production has been going down through the years while most others continue to grow.
When I lived in Arkansas I remember a friend of mine finding a ripe persimmon on one of our walks around a lake. That was really my first taste and I loved it! I remember her telling me about cutting them open to see certain cutlery shapes inside. I just found on wikipedia that this is old Ozark folklore that if you find a spoon shape there will be snow, a fork is a mild winter, and a knife is a cold biting winter.
I'm going to go cut my persimmon now!!
1 comment:
yay persimmons! i didn't know what they were until twin oaks either, but they are pretty yummy, really really sweet. that is so great you have them in your yard.
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