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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Shake Them 'Simmons Down!

Shake Them 'Simmons (short for persimmons)  Down  is found in songs from different American folk cultures such as Scotch-Irish communities of the Appalachian Mountains and African -American communities of the South.  Gathering persimmons from my tree this year, which has been done a little at a time hasn't seemed as easy as shaking a branch.  Rather, I've found that a bit of a twist and moving the fruit backward is necessary to get it to come off of a branch.  Because freezing temperatures were predicted, on Saturday, I took one last look out the kitchen window at the festively bedecked persimmon tree, the sight of which has made me smile.  From experience I've found that the fruit can take a bit of a frost but being frozen turns it to mush so off the 'simmons came.

In summer, greenery covers up much of the debris (yard art) that is all visible at once this time of year.

There are a few areas on the skin that are black but it doesn't seem to be detrimental to the texture or taste of the fruit.

This is the first year in the 20 that I've had the tree, that it has borne ripe fruit.  One year it produced three but they froze and last year, when it produced a few  fruits, the squirrels (I hope they were squirrels)  ate them while they were green.    What a nice surprise.  Okay, Paw paw, got that?  Time to follow the persimmon's lead and start producing!

20 comments:

  1. Such a festive color for fruit at this time of year! Do you have plans to make something -- jam, maybe? I have no clue what to do with persimmons, I've never had one. I'm glad the critters left them alone.

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    1. No plans to make anything as most recipes I've found are full of sugar. The critters were quite well-behaved this year!

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  2. They're such pretty fruits - or yours are anyway. Mine are usually half-eaten blobs molding on the tree, courtesy of the squirrels, or squashed on the ground, courtesy of the raccoons.

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  3. Pretty and very tasty. Persimmons are one of my favorite fruits, but I hardly ever get them. I'll probably have to have my own tree one day. That is, one selected for fruit, rather than my two seed-grown trees whose fruit quality is a long way from being determined. By the way, thanks to that title I'm now plagued by visions of Richard Simmons dancing to "Shake Your Booty."

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    1. They are delicious but usually quite expensive as fruit goes, kind of like Asian pears that are even easier to grow. Thanks for sharing your vision of Richard Simmons, it made me giggle.

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  4. Nice haul. They almost look too heavy for the branches.

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    1. It's amazing how tenaciously the fruit clings to the branches and how strong the little twigs are.

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  5. It almost looks like fruit fell and was skewered on your wonderful piece that really IS art.

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  6. I love persimmons but I've managed to kill two trees so
    I've given up growing them. Luckily they're grown
    commercially here so I can get my fix!

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    1. Hooray for commercial growers! Persimmons have even showed up at Costco in the last few years.

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  7. Love persimmons and love the garden art that is now visible. You are lucky to have scored such bounty.

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  8. I've never tasted a persimmon: What's the flavor like? They are beautiful: They remind me of very large, orange rose hips. Glad you had a nice harvest this year!

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    1. It's hard to wait until they become a bit mushy (like a tomato) but that's when the taste is sweetest. Some people say they taste like dates, some say acid-free sweet tomatoes. To me they taste a bit like sweet spiced pumpkin, like the pie filling but without the creamy part with a hint of oatmeal/brown sugar.

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  9. I just tasted persimmons on Saturday. I think they could have been a bit riper and sweeter but were good! What will you do with your crop? One blogger I follow in NC made persimmon pudding which sounded a lot like figgy pudding.

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    1. I mostly like to eat them out of hand but I've read about making a salad using them tossed in lime juice with some roasted walnuts. If they don't all get scarfed down by the weekend, I might try that.

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  10. Persimmons - yum! I'm jealous!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.