Mr.Chow, the gardener was here today. With a big smile on his face, he told me about two birds who ate my very delicious persimmons, which were very soft and ripe. He could not help himself exalting the flavor of the persimmons. We chatted fully aware what had happened. Lol! He reminded me to net the tree before the birds ate all the fruits. I have been meaning to wrap the fruit ala Asian practice for awhile now. A quick peruse of the tree showed a number of fruits partially eaten by the birds. I got to work wrapping up the fruits.
Fruit trees with paper wrapped fruits can often be seen in Asia. Normally, the ever thrifty Asian, would use strips of newspaper. Each fruit would be individually wrapped, unlike your truly, the lazy one. Traditionally, wooden skewers or toothpicks would be use as fasteners. Sometimes the bottom would be left open. I remember helping my grandmother and other relatives wrap Starfruits, Guavas and Mangoes in a similar manner. Over the years, as I lose my Asian industrialness, I discovered that paper lunch bags works in a pinch. Other years, I would wrap each fruit individually, using half a bag per fruit. Today, I decided to max out each paper bag and wrap only the most ripe ones first. I will buy more paper lunch bags tomorrow and continue with my Paper Bag Tree creation.
In the meantime, I will indulge in one ripe, sweet but crunchy Fuyu Persimmon. Yum!
Wow, so many persimmons! It was my grandma's and my fave fruit. Those days we had to buy preserved ones imported from China. Now we can buy them fresh. Your fruits look like big golden nuggets hanging from the tree. The birds had a party and full stomachs hence good karma for you ;>)
ReplyDeleteThe birds are here because your persimmons are ripening. Can you pluck them and let them ripen inside the house?
This a lean year - normally Persimmon have bumper crop one year and then skip a year. My tree gave me bumper crops of fruits for 8 years straight!! Last year it decided to slow down but I still get a decent number of fruits- generally larger and sweeter than store bought as I let them ripen on the tree... and share with the birds :(
ReplyDeleteThey can ripen a little bit more and soften on the kitchen counter but you lose the tree ripen full flavor. That's the reason to grown your own fruits. This is the Fuyu Persimmon so it can be eaten crunchy unlike the Hachiya which is astrigent and cannot be eaten until soft and ripe.
Thanks for reminding me - I have to buy more lunch bags to wrap the fruits!!
Wow, I certainly enjoy this lesson about growing pesimmons. Do post the flowers the next time your tree blooms again. Can you use newspaper to wrap the fruits?
ReplyDeleteYes, I can use newspaper to wrap the fruit but we recycle our newspaper every week so I do not always have them on hand. The shape of the paper lunch bag allows for the expansion of the growing fruit. Also, I find that ripe persimmon falls inside the paper lunchbag and saves the ripe fruit for me :)
ReplyDeleteThanks- I have never blogged or photographed the persimmon in flower. I will do so in spring. Check back for them!