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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.

Friday, November 16, 2018

Persimmon Picking Plus a Prickly Pear Plant

How's that for alliteration?    The squirrels have been eating the persimmons from my tree for a few weeks now.  Notice that I don't foolishly call them MY persimmons.  It looked as if they weren't planning on leaving any for me. Chava said that if they don't ripen inside they should just be left for the squirrels.  That gave me the idea to pick some and see if they'd become more orange inside. 


Since they did, the rest that didn't already have a few bites taken out of them were picked and brought inside.

The pesky bushy tailed rodent thieves had already consumed or at least tasted over half of the fruit but I did get some.

I planted the tree because I love the fruit but also because it looks beautiful hanging from the bare limbs with the bamboo behind.  This one largest and highest one was too high for me to get at with my short ladder and the squirrels hadn't been up there yet so I thought that maybe there would be at least one left for aesthetic appeal.  Silly me.  As soon as I picked what was left of the crop, the bushy-tailed bastards seemed to eat what was left even faster, including this one. 

We'll call the persimmon race a tie. (I'll feel better that way.)

A few weeks ago, I admired a plant in Loree's garden and asked what it was.  She reminded me that it's Opuntia aciculata aka the Chenille Prickly Pear and  had been a gift from Bob, The Miserable Gardener. She'd posted about it back in 2014 here.  Perhaps that was during the time when I'd banned all glochids from my garden.  Somehow, they've crept back in and, although I don't like brushing up against them much, I do love how they look and this one really looks adorable.  Off to the interweb to search and lo and behold, an Ebay seller  had some for sale.  I've had fabulous luck with online plant vendors from Etsy and Ebay and the price was reasonable and included free shipping.    Appropriately, Danger's name was right on the box.

Lots of the glochids that make this look like chenelle came  off in the packaging.  Better there than in my hands, right?  I've no doubt that it'll grow more.  Thanks, Loree, for the info.  It's really a cute looking plant from afar.  A better gardener would have top dressed this with gravel before taking it's picture.
Hope you have a great weekend all! 

14 comments:

  1. You did great with the persimmons! The few fruits my own 2 trees produced have all gone to the critters. As to the Opuntia, stay safe!

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  2. Those persimmons are beautiful and hopefully tasty too (at least the squirrels think so). I will be cautious of mine if it ever does produce fruit to get them before the critters do...I mean I don't mind sharing a little but your squirrels have a bit of an addiction.

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  3. Nice bounty of persimmons. When they are fully ripe they are quite delicious. Good luck.

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  4. Yay, glad you got the Opuntia, I love the warnings on the box.

    I've seen a few stories on freezing unripe persimmons. I haven't read any because I don't have any persimmons, but people seem to be treating that as another way of eating them before the pesky bushy tailed rodent thieve bastards can.

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  5. I have never eaten a persimmon. I should. I'm sure when the squirrels realized they had competition from you they stepped up their game. Are you just going to eat them, or are they good for baking/cooking/jam-making?

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  6. Happy you're still blogging. You have a diverse and intriguing interest like no other. Oh , those pesky squirrels.

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  7. The BTBs are a nuisance. We stopped feeding birds over the summer hoping to banish some of the House Sparrows and squirrels. The House Sparrows took the hint. We only have about 17 coming in this fall but the squirrels multiplied I believe. There were 7 of them out here all day. UGH...
    Your new prickly cactus is a cutie despite those prickles.
    Have a great weekend.

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  8. " A better gardener would have top dressed this with gravel before taking it's picture" -- but a garden blogger knows that if you dress it with gravel later you can get another post out of it. (Or maybe that's just me?)

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  9. So Japanese to have a persimmon tree. Have you actually cooked or eaten them?

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  10. Wildlife always gets nearly every edible in my garden before I do. Currently, birds are gobbling my winterberry - it never makes it until Christmas, alas. Herbs are the only thing that stands a chance, and even those sometimes have worms/caterpillars nibbling them. Oh well, Nature rules.
    Good luck with the Opuntia. I finally threw my Bunny Ears out when it stuck me one too many times. I figure there are plenty of other plants that would love the space it took up and wouldn't bite the hand that watered it.
    Have a great weekend, Peter!

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  11. I have never tasted persimmon and didn't know you could grow them here. Or perhaps it's that you can't harvest them here. Squirrels don't share nicely.

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  12. How wonderful having a persimmon tree, I didn't know they were hardy, I've never seen one here. The squirrels get every one of my walnuts too. They have the advantage of being more acrobatic and more single minded than we could ever hope to be.

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  13. Getting half the persimmons isn't too bad, considering how voracious the squirrels can be. I suppose the birds leave the persimmons alone? But my question is: what do you do with persimmons? Persimmon pie?

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