They taste more than close to pumpkin, as far as the USDA is concerned, pumpkins are just big winter squash:
http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-actually-in-your-canned-pumpkin-puree-ingredient-intelligence-69123
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Got out vinyl gloves and safety glasses, put load of peppers into the dehydrator
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We had some strong winds Friday night and I lost my contender graft. Oh well , should have braced it , I took the tape off on Wednesday and figured it would be OK until the leaves dropped. Five minutes with some string and a stick would have saved it.
What kind of graft was it?
I guess some are more vulnerable to breaking in wind than others?
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It was a bark graft and yes I agree that a bark graft may be weaker the first season. I really got caught off guard by the thunder storm. It has been pretty calm here in August. No excuse, I should have put a brace on it.
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Oh. I think the curry flavor stuff I have made is butternut squash and roasted cauliflower soup with curry seasoning. Yum. 
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My little Issai mulberry finally produced a few fruit. Not knowing what to expect I tasted one that was bright red. It’s been sitting there red for over a week so I thought maybe the berries won’t get dark. It was pretty bad. Tasted like grass. Ive read that many people eat mulberries while they are black or red. Hopefully they taste better black.
Are they ripe? I always thought Pink Lady was a very late apple like late October.
First time for me they tasted great. They really colored up over the last few weeks. I left some to ripen further so I’ll compare in a couple more weeks
I always thought Fuji was an October apple, too - I want it to be - but I tried one yesterday and tho it was a bit tart, the seeds were fully brown
Today some folks at the farmers market were giving away paw paws from one of ISU extension specialist’s demonstration and research projects. These were un-name seedlings, I think. I had one for supper tonight. It was ok. I haven’t had paw paws before but I have had cherimoya. This one I ate wasn’t quite as good as cherimoya.
It also was kind of gritty and a little bitter/astringent. Is the gritty texture a fault of this seedling or is it present in named cultivars too?
There is a guy that does u-pick for paw paws about 30 min drive away. I think he has named varieties. I am trying to decide whether it is worth my time to go there and pick some…
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Your pawpaw there looks old and tired.
Pawpaws are best fresh right off the tree, or kept chilled, but not freezing for no more than a day or two. As soon as they’re picked, the clock ticks loudly, and they ripen super rapidly, with an ethylene chain reaction. They smell crazy and will fill a room with a banana-like odor. Fruit flies will sneak thru pin-holes to get at them.
I’ll rarely eat a pawpaw after it’s off the tree for more than 48 hrs. Only the top experts (eg. Jim Davis of Deep Run Orchard; Westminster, Md) can keep them fresh and worth eating for a longer period of time. He has a huge walk-in chill room and performs voodoo on them in there to keep them fresh. He supplies all the region’s chefs, as well as this weekend’s Pawpaw Fest at the Mike Judd property in Frederick, Md; as well as Mackintosh Fruit Farm pawpaws of Berryville Va.
The best pawpaws are yellowish green; supple to the touch; but not mushy. It should have a taste and texture like a papaya and banana. Once they turn caramel brown, I no longer want them (though there are some people who like them that way). I only eat the flesh in between the seeds and the skin. The fleshy parts that cling to each lima-bean shaped seed I discard; as those parts have a less-agreeable mouthfeel to me.
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Thanks, Matt. This one was definitely old and tired and brown. I kept wondering if it was badly bruised after I snatched it up and I had a second look at it … but it was a situation of not looking a gift horse in the mouth. They were kept chilled, but who knows for how long. I will make sure to eat the other one in the morning.
Maybe I will have to make a trip then.
If you pick them firm do you have better luck? I have a friend in the Chicago area that is on the lookout for them and I was thinking of over-nighting him some via FedEx. Bad idea?
I pick them tree-ripe and eat them within a day.
They bruise readily and do not ship well at all. They need special handling to travel anywhere without getting knocked around or worse, overripen upon themselves. They need breathable spacing and chilled padded flats, or else they turn to a banana mush very quickly.
In a sealed cardboard box, it will deteriorate rapidly. Maybe survive intact if truly shipped overnight. Any delay past 24hrs would render it unappetizing if not a complete perishable mess.
Towards the end of the month,I’m going to travel about 800 miles to the SF Bay area to try and get some,so yeah,I’d go there.
It’s not the only reason for my visit,but one main one.
The only Pawpaws I’ve tried were from a tree(s) in Fremont,CA and they weren’t gritty,but fairly smooth textured and good flavored. Brady
PS The first ones were probably picked a little unripe and brought to me in Washington from there and were still fine,so that’s an idea.
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I am usually only picking them on weekends and I had one last night that was still good. So thats three days from picking. There are two left on the counter but they are brown and I’m probably going to compost them. It depends on how ripe they were, but for me they are usually still good in two days and sometimes three.
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Like a banana some people won’t eat them when they get spots, others won’t eat them when they get black, still others won’t eat them unless they are green. I let them get as close to rotten as possible with out rotting and that’s how I like them. Sugar is at it’s highest concentration then so just prior to black. Never had one taste grainy and would not care for that at all.
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Thats a good analogy with bananas. I like mine with minor spots, and my wife wants some green on the stem. For pawpaws I prefer them yellow; yellow turning brown is also OK. Just turned all-brown can also be OK but can be not OK depending on how ripe it was when picked (and perhaps also the variety). Dark brown or black is beyond my interest!
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