One Last Bite

  My hiking got a bit longer today as the old dog felt somewhat better, the day was gorgeous and I had cabin fever.  I needed to get away from Christmas decorations for at least a little while!  While we slowly meandered the hillside, Mr. PJ sniffed everything as if it was all new after his four day absence.  I surveyed everything as if it was all new.  Then, down by the marsh edge, I spied a treasure!  One last wild persimmon dangled precariously on a broken branch.  Obviously, a raccoon had coveted that very same persimmon but the tiny limb did not hold its weight.  Now, the quarter-sized fruit was within my reach!  It was mine!  I happily gobbled the luscious orange blob!  It is going to be a long wait before I taste that again.  October 2019 is a long way off.

  While the wild persimmons are not for everyone, I love them.  The peels are a bit astringent even after a frost chills them and each fruit has seven or eight large, penny-sized seeds.  It is the sweet, juicy pulp that makes the fruit worth eating.  When I can pick enough of the fruit, they do make a delightful jam, as well, however, I usually eat every one I pick!  There will be no jam this year.  Oops!

  Wild persimmons, though small, are more nutritious than their cultivated counterparts.  For example, just one of these small fruits can give you up to 27% of your daily requirement of vitamin C.  The fruit can be used in many ways.  Jams, breads, puddings and cookies are just a few of the ways I use them.  Plus, the leaves are dried and used to make a great cup of tea!  Wild persimmons...a favorite here on the Bayou...the coons and I love them!

 

Way Up There

  My hikes around the hillside during late October and early November always follow a path along the east side near the marsh.  It is there that I can grab a snack to enjoy along the way.  A small grove of wild persimmon trees has sprouted up in the past ten years or so.  Years ago, there was only one tiny tree but discarded seeds has turned the area into a regular orchard!  The quarter-sized fruit are divine!  It is my habit to grab a handful of fruits to enjoy while I hike. Yep, I eat them straight from the tree...without washing...probably not the smartest idea but it is the tastiest way to eat them.  The large penny-sized seeds are spit out along the path which is how this grove came to be in the first place.

  This afternoon was a bit distressing, however.  My snack consisted of only four persimmons.  The coons, possums and I have cleaned the lower limbs of the tree.  I would need to carry a tall ladder if I wish to harvest any more of the golden droplets of sweet goodness.  I cringed as I saw that the only remaining persimmons dangled a good twenty feet above my head.  They were well out of reach but were gleaming in the beams of the setting sun.  What a disappointment!

  My despair was short lived, however as I found a new snack vendor along the path!  November sees the ripening of the satsumas so by taking a few twists and turns, I am assured another quick, healthy snack.  The old dog is not complaining of this change of scenery either.  Mr. PJ is always interested in new sights and smells!

Persimmon Snacks!

  Along about this time of year, I start to keep watch on the wild persimmon trees that dot the woods around the Bayou.  Late October and early November sees the fruit starting to ripen and, if I am not quick, I will get nary a nibble even though there are dozens of trees.  The quarter-sized fruit goes fast when the possums and coons get a sniff of them ripening.  Each time the old dog and I take a hike, a good handful of the persimmons is a must-have snack. 

  This afternoon's snack provided a dozen or so seeds from the persimmons.  These were brought inside, rinsed and dried.  The seeds had a purpose!  The winter weather forecast was about to be revealed!  The seeds (when split) reveal the type of weather for the next few months...supposedly.  Each year, I carefully split seven or eight of the seeds just out of curiosity.  This is easier said than done, however.  To my imagination, splitting a persimmon seed is akin to splitting a penny.  It is hard to do!  If you are not careful, that splitting can become slicing of the finger!  So...I made things easier.  First, as I mentioned, wash and dry the seeds.  Persimmon seeds directly out of a persimmon are slimy!  Even after their bath, the things are still slippery and hard to hold.  It is a good idea to have a dish towel handy.  Now for my brilliant idea!  Use a pair of sturdy kitchen sheers to trim the edges of the seed.  This helps tremendously!  Trimming the edge gives you a flatter spot to start the knife.  After trimming, pinch the seed between the thumb and forefinger and SLOWLY, CAREFULLY begin slicing.  WATCH THOSE FINGERS!!  Trust me...It is easy to slip here!  Once you get one seed split, it is time to give up on the rest!  Nah, keep going.  You are doing great!  I did nine seeds from four persimmons.  The results show the weather forecast.  Snow?  Sleet?  Cold? Warm?  Inside the seed, you find a quite clear image of cutlery.  Spoons (snow shovels)=snow/rain.  Forks (Pitchfork)=warm.  Knife (spear)=stabbing cold.  Well....

  This year, I found all spoons.  That usually means rain, here in the Deep South, if the folklore rings true.  BUT....looking back since I have been recording this "evidence", we sure have had a LOT of spoons!  Admittedly, there have been a few knives but rarely a fork (even though, one may argue that our winters are warm compared to other folks').  Perhaps, looking at the inside of the seed, just gives us the idea whether the seed is viable.  The "spoon" may simply be the part that will eventually sprout.  This makes more sense as we sure have a lot of baby persimmon trees each year.  Those possums and coons seem to plant lots of seeds.  At least trying to get the seeds gives me a good reason to be munching the fruit!

Winter Provisions

  While it seems that the possums and coons love the wild persimmons as much as I do, they have been kind enough to leave a few dangling on the trees.  These fine, one inch-sized fruits are the perfect snack to find along the path while out hiking.  Down by the east side of the property, I intentionally let the persimmon trees grow where they will.  The seedlings pop up wherever a seed hits the ground and the sandy soil there seems to agree with them.  In a couple of years, the little trees start setting fruit.  The pathway has dozens of the trees scattered along its way so during the late fall, I have instant snacks on hand!  I actually prefer these seedy miniature fruits to the large cultivated ones.  To me, the tartness and firmness of the wild fruits makes them superior to the others.  It is not uncommon for me to grab several handfuls of the fruit as I meander about the hillside.

  Since the critters shared the bounty, I have been getting my fill of the tasty treats but, today, I noticed that someone else must be having a taste for the persimmons.  On the hike down the pier, a bit of orange caught my eye.  Between two of the boards, a plump fruit was wedged in tight.  Some critter had decided to steal a persimmon and haul it all the way to the pier.  Strange???  The coons and possums that raid the trees simply eat their fill and then abandon the area.  They do not carry persimmons with them as they go.  This had to be the work of one of the billion or so squirrels that inhabit the place.  Those rascals are eating everything in sight here lately and I have no doubt one scampered to the pier to dine.  What fruit the squirrels do not immediately eat, they stow away for the winter.  I watched as a female squirrel raided the kumquat tree.  She was picking the ripe fruits and burying them under the Boysenberry vines.  I suppose by mid summer of this next year, dozens of little trees will be found sprouting up there.  Perhaps the same thing happened with this persimmon.  Some enterprising young squirrel decided to stow the fruit between the boards of the pier.  Won't the critter be surprised when it comes back to find its meal had rotted??  

  The persimmon wedged in the pier boards may be a sign that the critters think this is going to be a cold winter.  Usually, when the little female squirrels store a lot of food, they have an inkling that it may be needed later on in the season.  I have noticed that most of this food storage is done by the females.  They work hard at gathering and hiding fruits, seeds and nuts.   The sad part is, most of the time, a male squirrel goes right behind her and eats what she has stored.  The male squirrels are lazy and would rather dine upon what the little female has picked.  Poor little female has to work doubly hard to gather and store enough to last the winter due to the raids of the male.  If she is burying persimmons, she may come back later to find she only has seeds to eat.  The soft pulp is not going to do well in storage!  Hmmm, I am glad I make my persimmons into jam.

The Faux Flower

  While out walking PJ for his last run of the day, I noticed what looked like a lovely flower on the ground.  Hmm?  This was not some easily recognizable blossom.  I thought that I was, at least, basically familiar with all of the blooms around the hillside, yet, here was one that I did not know!  This called for a bit of closer observation.  Not wanting to "uproot" some ground cover bloom, I knelt near the object.  It was then that I realized the old woman's eyesight was far worse that she knew! What my eyes saw as a bloom was nothing more than the stem cap from a wild persimmon.  I should have realized this from the get-go since I have seen these a thousand times before. In my defense, however, none of the previous stem caps have ever had the rich colors of this one.  Instead of being either the bright green of an unripe fruit or the dried brown of a luscious ripe persimmon, this was tri-colored.  The center was a rusty red, surrounded by a autumn gold and then edged with cool blue.  The "petals" were highlighted with a deep brown!  It sure resembled a flower!

  Once I realized that what my unknown bloom was, I started searching the branches for the first few ripe persimmons.  None were ready, yet. This is understandable since we need a frost to fully sweeten the fruits to their tasty deliciousness!  Had I snacked on one today, my mouth would have puckered and I would have instantly regretted my hastiness. 

  The "flower" was obviously discarded by a raccoon that had raided the tree last night.  For some odd reason, the tartness and astringency of the unripe persimmons does not seem to effect the critters as much as it does humans.  We lean towards taste over nutrition.  The raccoon knew that the persimmons would provide a nutritious meal.  I just hope he grows tired of eating persimmons before he totally clears my tree! I would love to have a few as a snack come this winter.  In the meantime, I will enjoy the raccoon's castoff "flowers" and maybe sip a cup of persimmon leaf tea while I wait for a frost!

Just an idea!

  The Blue Jays were stirring up a ruckus this afternoon just before sunset.  I figured that a snake had made its way up into the old oak tree and was trying to catch a nap but could find no peace.  I pulled on my shoes and headed down to the Bayou's edge to take a gander.  Sure enough, a chicken snake was slipping along the rough limbs of the live oak and the jays were not happy, to say the least.  I watched for a few moments and then decided to let the snake fend for itself.  Since it was a nice large one of about five feet in length, is should have no problem dealing with the irritating birds.  My attention had been pulled in another direction.

  Just past the snaky tree, the wild persimmon trees were loaded with the slightly ripening fruit.  Dozens of the pale orange blobs had been knocked to the ground by the marauding coons and possums.  None were quite ripe enough to eat but it would not be long before I can have a snack while hiking!  At least, I can if the critters leave me any!  

  A thought occurred while I was peering at the persimmons.  These are the tiny, wild persimmons and I have not done much with them other than sneaking a handful now and again.  What if I picked them now before the critters ate them all?  Would they ripen like their larger cousins?  The large cultivated persimmons will ripen on a sunny window ledge, will these?  I figure that I need to try.  I miss having the large persimmons from the farm and then later from my Aunt and Uncle's place.  I miss persimmon jam and jelly.  I miss persimmon shortcake.  I miss persimmon cookies.  

  Yep, I think Son and I will head down tomorrow and harvest a bucketful of the little gold nuggets and give this a try!  Free food is always good and wild persimmons are just that...free food...deliciously sweet, free food!

The Spoons take it by (snow)storm!

 Last fall, I decided to test the "Old Wives' Tale" of weather forecasting by persimmon seeds.  Theory has it that a piece of cutlery can be found inside a sliced seed and that piece can predict the severity of the coming winter.  I dutifully sliced open seven persimmon seeds.  The inside of one was black.  Obviously, the seed was rotten so that one was discarded.  In the remaining six, one contained the image of a knife and five had spoons.  Hmmm.  According to legend, we were bound for a snowy, wet winter.  A knife represents stabbing cold, a spoon stands for snow while a fork means a mild winter.  Those spoons and that one knife did not bode well for the Bayou.  I was curious just how well the seeds' prediction would hold.  It did.  Actually, for the first time in years, we had snow...errr...ice.  Lots of crunchy ice blanketed the Coast not once but twice with lots of sleet and snow flurries dotted around the rest of the winter.  Yep, that is about as much snow as we receive this far down in the Deep South.  I was happy that the seeds did so well with their forecasting as now, perhaps, I could determine just how much firewood we would need to gather. 

  Once again, it is persimmon time on the Bayou.  I have a number of the wild trees dotting the hillside that provide me with plenty of leaves for tea, gobs of the marble-sized fruit for jam  AND loads of the large seeds for weather forecasting!  I decided today was the day to test a few more seeds.  Elizabeth and I sat at the table while I snipped the edges of a seed with the scissors.  This makes it easier to slice.  (Wild persimmon seeds are really hard!)  Once I succeeded in slicing the seed, she announced "Spoon!"  Well, alrighty then!  Spoon = snow.  I sliced the second seed.  "Spoon!" she said once again.  Hmmm..snow. Then came time for the third seed.  You guessed it, once again, she proclaimed "Spoon!"  All three seeds had spoons.  I sliced four more seeds and nothing varied.  All seven seeds contained spoons.  No forks nor knives ever even tried to show up in the seeds!  Spoons!  Seven spoons.  Oh, my!

  Well, once again, it is a matter of wait and see.  Will we have another icy, snowy winter ahead of us this year?  Who knows?  Still, to be on the safe side, Michael and I will start cutting firewood in the coming weeks.  Being prepared for the worst case scenario is always the best idea.  Fire up the chainsaw!  Where is the axe?  I am ready!  

Persimmon Delight

   I know that not a lot of folks are fond of the wild persimmons but, personally, I find them delightful.  It is my findings that the cultivated type are sometimes a bit, errr, slimy.  Don't get me wrong.  I eat them!  I like them but it is my choice to have the little wild type.  The suit my tastes just fine!  I grew up eating the huge, delightfully sweet Japanese Persimmons.  Pop had five trees growing just outside the back door of the old farm house.  As kids, we would climb up in those trees and find the persimmon of perfect ripeness.  We, also, conned many of our unsuspecting friends into sampling one of the green, unripe persimmons and would giggle at their skewed up faces!  

   Imagine my delight when I found six more persimmon trees that are large enough to bear fruit.  I have been planting dozens of seeds about the hillside and, today during a hike, I noticed that six more of the young trees are loaded with little persimmons.  Hopefully, I will be able to pick enough of the little fruits to make more jam this year.  The possums and coons eat more than their share of my persimmons!  I have been hoarding the last jar of jam made from persimmons that I picked two years ago.  Those persimmons were from my aunt and uncle's place and were so sweet that I hardly had to add any sugar to the jam.  (I will make a trek over to their old place and see if the tree is still bearing fruit.  Maybe I will be able to add those to the jam-making!)

  I must remember to cut open a few seeds to check our weather forecast for this winter.  Remember? The inside of the seed supposedly can tell the severity of a winter's weather.  Last October, I cut open seven seeds and the majority of them had "spoon" shapes inside.  That called for a snowy winter.  Well, I suppose we had as close to snow as we can get down this far south with our two ice storms.  I called the prediction pretty accurate.  When slicing the seeds this year, I will take note of the shapes I find and then compare with our weather.  This should be quite interesting!  At least now I have lots of trees to give me a forecast...and some yummy fruit!  Come first frost, you will find me raiding the wild persimmon trees!