Leigh Tate

The idea behind starting this thread was my own realization that permaculture creates a unique beauty that is different from a standard cultivated garden or landscape. When I first read Sepp Holzer's Permaculture, I looked at the pictures and thought "What a mess, how can he tell what's what?" But as I started to implement the permaculture principles I was learning, I started to see that the permaculture garden and landscape create their own unique beauty. So while the typical cultivated urban landscaper may see a mess, a permaculturist will see a wild natural beauty as our gardens and landscapes are allowed to create their own ecosystems. The "beholder" in this case are the Permies!

My neighbor gifted me with a bunch of chestnuts. I've never had them before. So except for the old seasonal song that mentions them roasting by an open fire, I don't know what to do with them. I tried one raw but wasn't too keen on that. Does anyone have some ideas to share? Recipes?

Mary Cook wrote:Leigh--I question the "ripens before frost, therefore astringent" part. I think frost is irrelevant to the question of ripening and astringency, and that astringency means it isn't ripe. For the wild trees, even the ones in the open that have branches closer to the ground, most persimmons need to be picked up off the ground--and USUALLY their being on the ground means they're ripe.

The ones I'm referring to were gathered off the ground, were orange, soft, and squishy, but still astringent. As with other types of fruit trees, I suspect there's a lot of variation in the fruit. I did find putting them in the freezer made a difference.

I'm wondering about the Asian ones--do they have similar seeds?

The variety I have has similar seeds, but there's so much more pulp that the seeds aren't as bothersome.

I also wonder if there are any hybrids with much larger fruit than American ones but hardy to zone 6.

That would be a good research project.

Mary Cook wrote:Here's my question for this thread--does anyone have experience with both Asian and American persimmons, who can compare them?

I do, but it's limited. I planted the Asian persimmon because our wild persimmons were too high to get (mature tree too tall) and I found that they ripened before first frost anyway, so they were often astringent. But I'm in the southeastern US, so location is a factor for that. Plus the American persimmons are small with lots of seeds, so it's time consuming to separate the pulp from seeds and skin.

What I like about the Asian persimmon is that they don't need frost to sweeten. Plus they are quite large with plenty of pulp. Much easier to process. Unfortunately, my tree has had a poor harvest for the past several years, so production doesn't seem to be consistent from year to year. The American persimmon always seemed to have more abundant production.

That said, the only thing I've done with any of my persimmons is make and freeze the pulp. I freeze it in muffin tins and have a nice amount to defrost for pancakes, muffins, or cake.

I have to say I'm really glad that this thread has been revived. I originally started it to ask about Asian persimmons, but last year, Hurricane Helene knocked over our only wild American persimmon tree.

American persimmon tree knocked down by a hurricane

I never got much from this tree because it was so very tall. The fruit was impossible to reach so I had to count on windfall. But in my neck of the woods, the persimmons were ripening and falling long before first frost. So they were almost always astringent.

There were so many persimmons on the tree after it fell that I tried an experiment. I gathered them and put them in the freezer. I was quite happy to discover that this false freeze sweetened them nicely! I have something like 8 or 10 gallons of them in the freezer. The deterrent has been how small and seedy they are, so that the hand mill takes forever to extract the pulp. Thanks to ya'll, I'm inspired once again to see what I can do with them.

Mike Barkley wrote:Persimmons make excellent jelly.

Mike, do you have a recipe for persimmon jelly?