Persisting for Persimmons

One thing for sure about this project, help from friends has been key to success.

Ann had found a few persimmons locally, but not nearly enough. The trees she checked had already dropped their fruit, and there weren’t many to be found. There’s a go-to tree on my parent’s farm that always has an abundant crop. I know this not because I have previously harvested persimmons, but because it was always a good place to pick up a track back in my raccoon hunting days. But my dad reported the tree was bare this year.

Luckily, my sister Christy and her husband Mike were at the farm at the same time as us. He knew of a tree at the neighbor’s house where he used to pasture his horses. We went there together, but it was also void of fruit. But he knew one more place: a cattle ranch that he co-manages a few miles up the road had a tree that he had seen laden with fruit just a few days before.

A few miles and a few gates later, the four of us were at the tree that did indeed have a bountiful persimmon crop. Most were still on the tree. We picked what we could from the ground, and then stood on the back of Mike’s truck and picked some more.

It’s our understanding that persimmons aren’t ripe, and are very sour, until they’ve experienced the first freeze. These persimmons had not, and we were debating what to do with persimmons that weren’t tree ripe. Put them on a window sill like tomatoes? Put them in a brown paper bag like peaches?

On the way out of the pasture, we saw Albert, the owner of the ranch. He asked if we had gathered enough for a pie. “Yes, but we’re not sure if they’re good yet,” we replied. “Just put them in the freezer for a little while,” Albert said.

Huh. That makes sense. Just artificially replicate that first hard freeze. So we’re giving that a try. Cooking Wild in Missouri has four persimmon recipes, so I hope that it works.