Pickin' Up Pawpaws

Pickin' up Pawpaws

It’s that time of year, the Pawpaws are ripening. Once enjoyed by Presidents Washington and Jefferson, and savior of starving Lewis and Clark, the Pawpaw became neglected as a fall treat.  Its short shelf life and delicate flesh rendered it unsuitable for large scale industrial distribution. But it is making a comeback as local foods are becoming popularized, and chefs search for unique eats.  They have even been spotted at Charlottesville’s City Market

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While the fruit is not well known, those of a certain age may remember a folk song from elementary school: 

      “Where, oh where is dear little Nellie?  Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch. Pickin' up pawpaws, put 'em in your pocket , way down yonder in the pawpaw patch”.

And in Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book , Baloo sings Bare Necessities in which he gives advice to Mowgli on how to pick pawpaws and prickly pears: 

   “Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw, when you pick a pear, try to use the claw, but you don't need to use the claw, when you pick a pear of the big pawpaw.”

The pawpaw (asimina triloba) is the largest edible tree fruit native to the United States. It is the only temperate tropical escape of the Caribbean Custard Apple family. With its large drooping obovate leaves, it can make an attractive tropical appearing ornamental.

 Pawpaw leaves

 However its odd looking small flowers smell faintly of carrion in order to attract flies and beetles for pollination. 

 Pawpaw tree flower

One of its few pests is Virginia’s State Butterfly, the Zebra Swallowtail, whose larvae feed exclusively on young pawpaw leaves. It has a native range from Florida to Michigan.

The fruit has the size and appearance of a green russet potato, and gets a yellow cast when ripe.  The custard like flesh is orange, and contains numerous lima bean shaped black seeds. The taste and smell is complex, a combination of banana, mango, and pineapple. It remains edible for less than three days, perhaps a week when refrigerated. Beware; the aroma can become cloying quickly, the flesh taking on the consistency of a rotten banana.

 Small pawpaw with seeds

Because of the taste and texture, pawpaws make a good substitute for bananas in pies, cookies, custards, cakes and breads.  Or just eat around the seeds with a spoon

They are high in vitamin C, magnesium, iron, copper, and manganese and potassium. They also contain riboflavin, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, and zinc.

You can find pawpaws along most rivers and creeks in this area. There it is frequently found in clonal groves in the well-drained soil. It is usually a small understory tree, but can reach 25 feet tall.

 Pawpaw tree with seedlings in foreground showing early fall coloration

 The Saunders-Monticello trail has numerous well developed groves. There are several along the Rivanna Trail between Riverview Park and Free Bridge, especially where the trail narrows at the foot of the Riverview Cemetery. And a small grove is being cultivated in Schenk’s Greenway along McIntire road near the recycling center.

If you want your own, they can be started from seed. Place them in a plastic bag in moist peat moss and cold stratify them by leaving them outside in a protected place. They must not dry out.  In the spring put them in well-drained soil, and then be patient.  They may not sprout till late July.  They do not transplant from the wild well because by the time the plant is recognizable, the roots have penetrated several feet into the soil.  Or you can just buy a tree from Edible Landscaping in Nelson County.

The fruits can be hard to spot under the drooping leaves.

 Pawpaw cluster

 Generally the ones that fall are quickly consumed by raccoons and opossums. But a brisk shake of a tree can loosen the ripe ones. Be careful, they can weigh up to a pound. And hurry, most are gone by the end of September around here.  Go join dear little Nellie and pick em up yonder in the pawpaw patch.

Where, oh where is dear little Nellie?

Where, oh where is dear little Nellie?

Where, oh where is dear little Nellie?

Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch.

Pickin' up pawpaws, puttin' 'em in your pocket,

Pickin' up pawpaws, puttin' 'em in your pocket,

Pickin' up pawpaws, puttin' 'em in your pocket,

Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch.

                                          --American Folk Song

"The Bare Necessities" written by Terry Gilkyson, from the animated 1967 Disney film The Jungle Book:

 Now when you pick a pawpaw

Or a prickly pear

And you prick a raw paw

Next time beware

Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw

When you pick a pear

Try to use the claw

But you don't need to use the claw

When you pick a pear of the big pawpaw

Have I given you a clue?

Wick Hunt