Dear Permies;

I'm working on a new book - For the Love of Paw Paws. Like my first book, Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist, I am going the self publishing route - which means I've created a Kickstarter to make it happen.



Interesting Paw Paw facts:

Large fruit production potential – 50lb+ per tree – on an ornamental tree!

It grows wild in 26 states within America and is popping up all over the world

It has a deep root, like a nut tree, that pulls nutrients to the fruit

It is the host tree for the Beautiful Zebra Swallow Tail Butterfly

Its leaves & twigs have cancer fighting properties

It makes great beer!

Check out my Kickstarter HERE.





In my new book, For the Love of Paw Paws, you'll learn about everything Paw Paw - from cultivation to preparation (Seed to Table) - and it will include some delicious recipes from adventurous chefs!

So if you are interested in the Paw Paw, and would like to help out in bringing this book to fruition, please visit my Kickstarter page and lend a hand in helping me get this book published.

Gracias Adelante

Michael Judd
Permaculture Rascal

Some quick comments:

maybe add a $1 donation -- will receive an email of our gratitude for supporting... =-- the reason is that some people will be willing to pitch in a buck or 2, where $10 might be over what they are willing to give.  The wall of supporters is a nice touch

side note: Are you in Fredric Maryland?  If so Cool!  I recently bought an abandoned azalea farm in Lanham (1000' outside of the DC Beltway).

You might also want to offer seeds and/or plants and/or products likes jellies/jam/something-- although this may need come with restrictions (like interstate and exportation control).  Fundamentally people want things  they can touch.  The book is a very nice thing, but what to do for people who are out of the natural range of distribution or plant hardiness zone?  Maybe you can offer other things as well.

How is publishing the book?  Have you looked at on-demand publishers like Lulu?

Also, Kickstarter is an all or nothing gig.  You might look at other venues like Indigog and others (see https://www.floship.com/kickstarter-alternatives-you-should-know-about/ for a list)

other than that it looks good.

As a side note, numerous people have asked/suggested if I would propagate paw paw at the revamped farm.  I know little about them to date.  Maybe that is something we can discuss offline.

  I wish you the best of luck!

  EBo --

I'll be sending out a plug for this in our next dailyish!

I backed it, Michael. Great idea. I'll share it on my site as well.

Good work, Nicole! I missed this post before you sent your email.

And here you go, Michael: http://www.thesurvivalgardener.com/love-paw-paws-kickstarter/

That should get you a few more backers. I don't have anything near Paul's reach, but I have a good-sized audience.

Is there anywhere we can taste this famed fruit? If you partnered with someone that made small jellies to taste, for a larger donation, that would be fun!! I would donate $20 for a small jar!!

Super appreciating the Permies love here for Paw Paws! Thank you for the apples, the dailyish blast, and network posts. Paw Paws to the People!

Mr. Ebo - propagating paw paws from seed is very successful - I'll put a few notes here:

- care needs to be taken that the seeds always stay moist, so after eating a fresh paw paw clean the seeds and place in a ziplock in the fridge or in the ground where it will grow (mulch well)
- using a heating mat to germinate speeds up the process to only 14 days - verse 4-6 week average. set the mat at 85 degrees
- pot into deep tree pots 12" plus deep as the germinating seed will send down a 9" deep tap root before it even sends up a shoot!
- be patient as under ideal temps and conditions you will have to wait 6 weeks before seeing a shoot arise

The Paw Paw Mini Manual I am working on will go into good detail on all aspects of the paw paw horticulture and then onto paw paws and permaculture; hugelkultur, guilds, etc

I have created a Permies specific link to my Kickstarter page so I can track the love coming from you all!! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ecologia/michael-judd-for-the-love-of-paw-paws-from-seed-to?ref=awheee

Please check it out and spread the love!!

Michael, I was not worried about germinating/growing them, but on the reported longevity perishability of the fruit.  According to one study <http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/pdf/archbold03.pdf>, ripe fruit only have a 2 to 3 day shelf life, up to 1 week if you pick early and post ripen, and up to 1 month if refrigerated at 4C.  So anything above growing some for myself requires setting up commercial freezers and markets to move them within a day of readiness.  I would love to grow some of the chestnut hybrids, but the ones known to be resistant to the rot are GMO, and planting those will negate efforts to getting the farm certified organic.

I also expect to have problems with the deer mowing everything down, but that is not a problem of growing paw paw or anything in specific, but wildlife management (as a note, I have seen as many as 30 dear traipse through the edge of the woods at one time, and they are actually browsing on the daffodils, azaleas, and rhododendrons not to mention anything that tastes yummy).

In response to paw paw fruit perishability - if just ripening fruit is hand picked it can last two plus weeks in the refrigerator. left on the counter you have about 2 days. you can tell they are just ripening when the flesh just yields - like a peach.

Jim Davis of Deep Run Paw Paw Orchard who has the largest and longest standing commercial paw paw orchard near Westminster Maryland has a walk in cooler with filters to help pull out excess ethylene gas. He normally has them only in there for a day or two before he overnights them to distributors.

I pulp and freeze as much as I can during the season and when I get behind I just freeze the whole fruit until I can process it. Freezing the whole fruit is actually the easiest way to pulp the paw paw - once frozen you can peel them like a potato and the seeds pop right out - compared to pulping fresh fruit which is a messy affair that can take up to 10 minutes per fruit if you are carefully cleaning the seeds. Charles West, another paw paw elder, told me he swapped the blades in his blender with rubber paddles to de-pulp.. Processing the paw paw is one of the bottle necks to it becoming a wide spread food. Chris Chmiel of Integration Acres (a fellow permie) has some big machinery developed for the paw paw which I will cover in the manual I am Kickstarting for now. He sells pulp mostly from wild harvested paw paws and other value added goodies - check his site - https://www.integrationacres.com/.

Thanks Michael for the information on pulping and freezing.  This is very useful information.

As a note, part of my background and experience is maintaining/designing/modifying machines for field ecologists and ag folks.  Let me dig out from my current pile of must-do's and we should talk about what folks want to try to support processing native fruits and veggies.  If interested ping me off list and we can talk about timing, etc.

Greetings Michael and good luck with your book
I've been promoting pawpaws here in western Pa for about 15 years, a sort of one man band
here are a few pictures from last fall's "Make Pawpaws Great Again" tour



[img]https://webmail.centurylink.net/service/home/~/?id=6733&part=2&auth=co&disp=i
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Permies I have some Big Sweet Paw Paw Candy to offer.. The Paw Paw Mini Manual Kickstarter is just past half way in a week - WooHoo - and almost $1,000 of that is from here at the Permies Forum!! Though I have been planning acknowledgement in print to Permies.com, as I did in my first book, I am up to offer a full page of honor to Permies.com if we can reach $5,000 from permies. Paul has been working his magic to help the Kickstarter and has faith we can make this happen.

The rewards are a solid barter that will have an exponential effect. Together we can root culture, perennial culture.

Check it out - link in top thread post.

P.s. I'll post about quick and cheap paw paw seed germination next..


Paw Paw Custard Pie!!

I'm wondering if you could make one of the tiers have the award of your previous book,  Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist. I don't have thar book yet, and I'd love to.

Also, perhaps a tier for a pawpaw seed, if you have access to a lot. I think people would select that tier if it's $5-10.

I second the idea of other books, or additional books (ie for XYZ about, you get the complete set of Mike's Permie library ;-)

It is easy to successfully grow paw paws from seed. How long it takes for your paw paw seeds to germinate is determined on the temperature of your soil medium. I use a small heating mat that controls the temperature of my soil medium at 85 degrees and my seeds germinate in fourteen days. That’s the fastest I know of. Planted outside in the ground it could take two months for germination to happen once soils begin to warm in the spring. In a pot inside your home it could take one month. Regardless of method if your seeds are in good shape – stayed moist and cool – then germination rates for me have been in the 90 percent range.

I inherited my germination method from paw paw grower legend Jim Davis of Deep Run Paw Paw Orchard. Using just a single heating mat, a pair of turkey basting pans and a light weight seeding mix seeds will sprout in just fourteen days. Now, I germinate hundreds of seeds at a time for my nursery business but the same method works for even just a hand full of seeds.

What you need:

• Small seedling heating mat
• Digital control thermostat for heat mat
• 2 aluminum turkey basting pans
• Lightweight seedling soil/potting mix

Be sure your mat has an adjustable thermometer and set it at 85 degrees, place an empty aluminum pan on the mat, moisten the seedling mix and layer 1 inch thick, place paw paw seeds flat side by side, cover with an additional 1 inch of moistened mix, place seeds, etc, up to, three layers if you have the seed. Whether one or three layers make sure the seeds have an inch layer on top and cover with a turned upside-down pan as the lid, clamp shut. Seeds will germinate in approximately 14 days. Pick them out as soon as the root pokes out and pot up in 12+ inch deep pots or directly in the ground where they will be grown with the root radical facing down.

Alternatively you can place stratified seeds in 12+ inch deep pots, with a moist lightweight soil medium, that have been warmed to room temperature in your home or greenhouse.

*The root is very fragile and will break easily so best to plant while it’s just a nub. I pot mine up in 12-inch-deep tree pots ordered from Stewe and Sons to help assure the tap root will not be comprised.

** seeds do not need light be begin germination

Resource for buying deep potted paw paws of the best quality:

West Farm – Charlie West
https://farmandfoodguide.com/listing/west-farm
wcwest@gmail.com
908-255-5471

Michael Judd wrote: Though I have been planning acknowledgement in print to Permies.com, as I did in my first book, I am up to offer a full page of honor to Permies.com if we can reach $5,000 from permies.

How is it that I am just now seeing this?

How far has permies come so far?

If we pull it off, can we decorate the page however we want? 

Quick question.

I donated $25 to the Paw Paw Project, but how will he know I donated because I saw it on Permies? 

JR

Jeffrey Rush wrote:Quick question.

I donated $25 to the Paw Paw Project, but how will he know I donated because I saw it on Permies? 

JR

Each of the links we have on this page that goes to the kickstarter has a special code attached.

It's funded!

Michael, how are we doing on getting that page?

I am very pleased to say that of 3.14.18 - 49 Permies have contributed $1,449 to the Paw Paw Mini Manual - which reached its base goal Sunday!!

You guys are awesome!! Permies to the People & Paw Paws to the People.

Thank you Paul for throwing in so hard and far, you are a slugger for sure.

The campaign still has another 11 days so please keep supporting and spreading the word. Any and all funds beyond the self publishing costs will go towards the manuals first printing..

Sustainable World Radio has just released a podcast with me all about Paw Paws!

Paw Paw Podscast

Permacutlure Magazine North America has an article by me on starting paw paw seeds on their site

Paw Paw Seed Starting Article

Alright Permies.. I have added a stretch goal to the Kickstarter for the Paw Paw Mini Manual - The campaign stretch goal is now to reach $12,500 for the manuals first printing. If we can reach the stretch goal I will commit to printing with PrintReLeaf certified paper that assures  trees are replanted for paper used. Let's make this publication truly ecological!!

And.. by request here at Permies I am adding a new reward that offers my first book at a deal:

The perfect combo - a signed copy of my first book 'Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist' & a signed copy of 'For the Love of Paw Paws: A Mini Manual for Growing and Caring for Paw Paws - From Seed to Table’. Plus your name will appear on the Paw Paw Wall of Heroes - which will sit smack in the center of our 3rd Annual Paw Paw Fest. This is a deal that offers the Edible Landscaping book for just $15 (reg $25). Books will ship together when the mini manual is released. Your library will be complete!

The campaign link - Kickstarter page

re/ cooking with paw paw pulp: numerous reports on web that cooked paw paw frequently induces nausea in humans. Current hypothesis is that the unsaturated fatty acids in the flesh are altered (e.g. oxidized) during heat exposure (drying hot, or cooking) to produce nausea-inducing byproducts. This seems reasonable to me, though I'm not hot-to-trot to investigate in a scientific way (cook a large batch, extract the fatty-acid materials, separate them, determine structures by LC-MS, and consume each to assess human response). As an alternative, *most* things that could be prepared by cooking can also be prepared cold. Example: for a "custard"-style pie, cook up a gelatin-containing concentrate (commercial mixes for this usually contain also a fruit acid such as citric, tartaric, or tartaric, and possibly some sugar as well) , then cool it to room temperature, mix in paw paw pulp (stored frozen, and pureed), and allow to set in a refrigerator. This is then gelled, and non-nausea-inducing (as I can attest!). Result is every bit the equal of key-lime pie!
Cheers!  -- Stan de Riel

Re paw paws and funky belly - I have been in conversation with Chris Chmiel of Integration Acres - host of the Ohio Paw Paw Festival - and others about the occasional reactions of some to cooked paw paw. I will be compiling a retort to the raised issue in the manual but in brevity here I will say that it seems to be a concentration of the paw paws medicinal and nutrient density that can have a 'cleansing' effect if over consumed or by those with poor diets long unaccustomed to natural/wild foods. I have made and served over 1,000 people with cooked paw paw jam with no negative replies.. which is not to say it does not happen but that it is more an isolated issue with certain individuals - much like you will find with any food. The consensus is clear that you don't want to make fruit leather and to eat paw paw in moderation. Again. I will go into further detail in the manual.

Kickstarter Update!! To date 63 amazing Permies have supported with $1,912 to help make the Paw Paw Mini Manual a reality. I super appreciate the stepping forward with positive action from the Permie community. The campaign has 9 days left so please keep spreading the word!

We are almost there!

With all the snow falling here at the homestead I am busy strumming up some last minute support for the campaign's stretch goal for first printing. 4 days and $1,600 to go - that's $400 a day - which I know can happen.. with a little help. If you have shared the campaign already - thank you - please do again as repeating has a multiplying effect and lets friends know you are truly in support of this venture, and if you have not please consider doing so with a personal note to your community. This is how a paw paw revolution is born!

See you in 4 days..

PawPawKickstarter

Michael, how are the permies peeps doing at getting to that $5000 goal?

Alright Permies.. after some good 10 year rye last eve I came up with a challenge. As many of you know I am undertaking a new publication all about paw paws - from seed to table, and have a Kickstarter in its final days that the Permie community has supported enormously.

So, the challenge is.. I will research and write about paw paws, pigs and permies in the publication - if the permies.com community steps up and helps reach the last stretch goal of the campaign.

Paw Paw Mini Manual Kickstarter - Permies

I already have confirmation that pigs dig paw paws from Kate Spinillo of Ham Sweet Farm in Michigan who says "They readily eat fruit & seeds & all.. When I was managing a niche pork production farm in West Virginia a few years ago, if you wanted paw paws you had to get to them before the pigs and other wildlife did. They are some really hot commodities! Longterm we want to be finishing our hogs on mast of all kinds, but of course paw paws are top of the list of good stuff to have around."

I have started another thread as a conversation point for paw paws, pigs, and permacutlure over in the Permaculture forum - Paw Paws, Pigs & Permies

Master Steward Paul Wheaton we are up 67 awesome permies kicking in $2,017 For the Love of Paw Paws!! 60 hours left and just $300 shy of the stretch goal..

Michael Judd wrote:Master Steward Paul Wheaton we are up 67 awesome permies kicking in $2,017 For the Love of Paw Paws!! 60 hours left and just $300 shy of the stretch goal..

I added a bit of something to the top of all the pages at permies, plus our fb stuff and something will (hopefully) go our in the dailyish today.

Michael Judd wrote:Master Steward Paul Wheaton we are up 67 awesome permies kicking in $2,017 For the Love of Paw Paws!! 60 hours left and just $300 shy of the stretch goal..

One day left!  Are we gonna get that page?

Michael, can you address transplanting paw paw saplings?  My sister has thousands of paw paw trees on her property in TN with lots of saplings around the forest.  When I dug a few up, they seemed to be a sucker from a lateral root of a nearby mature tree rather than having its own tap root.  These saplings were from 1 to 3 foot in height.  As I dug some up, they all had this side runner root, getting cut and no tap.  They all died when transplanted.

I was going to get fruit and seeds but for all of the trees, including large ones, there is very few fruits growing, and only very high up, and we never see any that have dropped to the ground.

Is there some good tips for transplanting, including time of year?  Also, that might make for a section in the book.  Thanks.

Dukemeister we are at $2500 smackers!!

Ladies & Gentlemen we have take off on the Paw Paw Mini Manual adventure!! Fully funded at $14,000+ the Kickstarter campaign has been a big success. This is largely thanks to 83 Permies who kicked in a total of $2,668. That's pretty f#!kin' awesome and once again shows that this community has faith and support for each other.

Paul and Team Permie have been amazingly supportive, their hearts and spirits are solid and large.

I am wondering if we can set this thread up over in the fruit forum.. tweak it a bit and continue the sharing and learning about paw paws..?? I would love the interaction, questions, experience, etc. to help make the mini manual as diverse and useful as possible.

Again, thank you to all who kicked in.

Michael

I made the main forum for this to be "fruit trees." Would you like the title of the thread to be more general, maybe just "For the Love of Paw Paws!"?

pawpaw season is in full swing

what's the status of the book?