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Is there anywhere to buy fresh, local, American Persimmons? I love the Asian varieties but keep reading how good the local ones are. Last year, no one at the State Farmers Market seemed to sell them.
I have seen them at the Carrboro farmer's market. You do need to make sure they are soft and ripe, though. Some of the Asian varieties aren't as astringent. I let my kids taste an unripe native one once just so they'd know what it was like. Not an experience they will forget. (To be clear, they wanted to see what it was all about.)
... Some of the Asian varieties aren't as astringent. ...
I have two persimmon trees, both Asian cultivars. One is astringent, one is not.
The sweet (non-astringent) fruit (plentiful right now) is the size of an orange. The seeds are small and edible. There is no trace of mouth-puckering astringency.
The astringent fruit (not yet ripe) is 2/3 the size of an orange. The seeds are large and spittable. The flavor is more robust than the the sweets. When fully ripe there is just a trace of astringency.
American persimmons are astringent and the fruit is usually mixed with sugar, then cooked or baked. They are smaller than either Asian variety.
Asian persimmons are usually eaten raw -- sliced in two and the jelly-like pulp spooned out.
This is not exactly what you are asking for, but Woodlander's of Aiken, SC sells Persimmon Trees. I may end up buying a few to plant in my arms. The Asian varieties are good, but I think it's cool to stick with local species when possible.
Different varieties of the persimmon tree grow at different rates. Some are quite slow-growing and will take 7-10 years to bear fruit. Do your research.
I've never seen any persimmon varieties at the farmers market but believe some of those companies that sell produce boxes had them on the list. Not sure which variety though.
The stores commonly sell Hachiya variety that is very tasty when ripe but very astringent when not. I imagine the America variety will be similar in taste. The non-astringent variety is usually Fuyu. I saw Hachiya persimmons in the Asian store, they ripen much later. As I've been told, the astringent varieties need some cold to become sweet.
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