Pawpaw Trees
Pawpaws are an excellent food source. They exceed apples, peaches and grapes in most vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and food energy value. They have a custard-like texture, and the taste is a cross between banana, mango, and pineapple - i.e. tropical. Raccoons, opossum, and deer like them, but they leave enough for us so we do not fence in the trees.
Pawpaws are trouble free on our site. Just plant, wait, and eat. No insects or diseases to worry about.
The fruit can be eaten as is, or used in recipes made for bananas, e.g. smoothies, breads, puddings, pies - just substitute pawpaws for bananas.
Because they do not ship well and have such a short shelf life you will not find them in stores. You have to grow your own, forage in the woods, scourer farmers markets, or do without. Once ripe, shelf life is 3-5 days at room temperature and 2-3 weeks refrigerated. However, you can freeze the custard in freezer bags, for use over winter.
This tree fruits in about 5 years and is quite productive by year 8. We planted 3 trees in 2010 and one died of unknown causes. The other two are doing fine. I am planting several other varieties in Spring 2020 to experience other flavors. The flavor, size, and productivity varies considerably from variety to variety. You need at least two trees for pollination.
These trees are planted off to the back of our site, near the forest treeline, where we allow it to grow to its full size of 15' to 20'. Paw Paws are understory trees, so they are shade tolerant. However, full shade will limit fruit development, as they do their best in full sun. So, for us, on the edge of a forest is best - out of the way yet enough sun to be productive.
There is an issue, however, on the two pawpaw trees we have. The flavor and aroma are tolerable, but not great; we are not really fond of them, but they are edible and we use them. The technical term for this is "spitters" - that is, you spit them out. However, these are not that bad, so not really "spitters." We made the beginner mistake of buying trees grown from seeds, rather than purchasing a named variety grafted onto a rootstock. When you grow from seed, it is a genetic crap-shoot, and you do not know what you will get. Just like apples or pears, it is best to buy grafted clones of known good cultivars. Then you know you will get a tree that is true to type. So, in 2020, we are planting other varieties, as shown below, with the hope that some will have a better taste.
An informative article on Pawpaws can be found at Tyrant Farms.
One University that does research on pawpaws is Kentucky State U.
Here is a “Pawpaw” video from Edible Landscaping.
Here is "The Pawpaw Patch" video from Kentucky State U.
The annual Ohio Pawpaw Fest is held in mid-September in Albany, Ohio. You can learn everything about pawpaws here.
Pawpaws are available from many nurseries. Here are a few I like:
Edible Landscaping has a small selection of healthy potted trees. We visited them in Virginia - nice people and a beautiful nursery.
England's Orchard has a large selection of Pawpaws and Persimmons (McKee, Kentucky) - quick to respond to emails or phone.
Nash Nurseries has a large selection of Pawpaws as potted plants (Owosso, Michigan) - mail in your order.
Nolin Nursery has a large selection of Pawpaws and Persimmons (Upton, Kentucky) - friendly and helpful on the phone.
Below is a map of the native range of pawpaws. As you can see, Connecticut is outside this range. Theoretically, however, they can grow in zones 5a-8b. Our area is zone 6a and, as you can see by the photos below, we have successfully grow pawpaws here in Connecticut. Our two pawpaw trees have survived since they were planted in 2010.
Pawpaws are trouble free on our site. Just plant, wait, and eat. No insects or diseases to worry about.
The fruit can be eaten as is, or used in recipes made for bananas, e.g. smoothies, breads, puddings, pies - just substitute pawpaws for bananas.
Because they do not ship well and have such a short shelf life you will not find them in stores. You have to grow your own, forage in the woods, scourer farmers markets, or do without. Once ripe, shelf life is 3-5 days at room temperature and 2-3 weeks refrigerated. However, you can freeze the custard in freezer bags, for use over winter.
This tree fruits in about 5 years and is quite productive by year 8. We planted 3 trees in 2010 and one died of unknown causes. The other two are doing fine. I am planting several other varieties in Spring 2020 to experience other flavors. The flavor, size, and productivity varies considerably from variety to variety. You need at least two trees for pollination.
These trees are planted off to the back of our site, near the forest treeline, where we allow it to grow to its full size of 15' to 20'. Paw Paws are understory trees, so they are shade tolerant. However, full shade will limit fruit development, as they do their best in full sun. So, for us, on the edge of a forest is best - out of the way yet enough sun to be productive.
There is an issue, however, on the two pawpaw trees we have. The flavor and aroma are tolerable, but not great; we are not really fond of them, but they are edible and we use them. The technical term for this is "spitters" - that is, you spit them out. However, these are not that bad, so not really "spitters." We made the beginner mistake of buying trees grown from seeds, rather than purchasing a named variety grafted onto a rootstock. When you grow from seed, it is a genetic crap-shoot, and you do not know what you will get. Just like apples or pears, it is best to buy grafted clones of known good cultivars. Then you know you will get a tree that is true to type. So, in 2020, we are planting other varieties, as shown below, with the hope that some will have a better taste.
An informative article on Pawpaws can be found at Tyrant Farms.
One University that does research on pawpaws is Kentucky State U.
Here is a “Pawpaw” video from Edible Landscaping.
Here is "The Pawpaw Patch" video from Kentucky State U.
The annual Ohio Pawpaw Fest is held in mid-September in Albany, Ohio. You can learn everything about pawpaws here.
Pawpaws are available from many nurseries. Here are a few I like:
Edible Landscaping has a small selection of healthy potted trees. We visited them in Virginia - nice people and a beautiful nursery.
England's Orchard has a large selection of Pawpaws and Persimmons (McKee, Kentucky) - quick to respond to emails or phone.
Nash Nurseries has a large selection of Pawpaws as potted plants (Owosso, Michigan) - mail in your order.
Nolin Nursery has a large selection of Pawpaws and Persimmons (Upton, Kentucky) - friendly and helpful on the phone.
Below is a map of the native range of pawpaws. As you can see, Connecticut is outside this range. Theoretically, however, they can grow in zones 5a-8b. Our area is zone 6a and, as you can see by the photos below, we have successfully grow pawpaws here in Connecticut. Our two pawpaw trees have survived since they were planted in 2010.
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