Exploring the many gifts offered by Paw Paw trees the in the context of Food Forest Design. This is Installment #6 of the Stacking Functions in the Garden, Food Forest and Medicine Cabinet series.
Just reading this would be interested in seeds if have any. Will try in my location in Southeast Texas as well as at my dad's in Northwest Illinois....
Oh sorry I mixed you up with another Michelle. I am currently only able to ship Pawpaw seeds to paid subscribers (so that the shipping costs are covered). If you would like to upgrade to a paid subscription I would be happy to send you some Paw Paw seeds.
I have several growing in a contained area huddled by elderberries which provide them with shade, the most abundant tree ensconced by a blackberry bush. I made the mistake last season of removing one of the shading elders and the paw paw got sun scalded and lost its leaves. It is seemingly dead. Have you an6 experience with a paw paw growing up from its roots after leaf drop?
I have only grown our two trees successfully from seed and placed them on the north side of a 6 foot high wooden slotted fence to they could acclimatize to sun while young (which worked out beautifully). So I do not have any experience with Paw Paw seedlings dying back due to sun exposure to be able to tell you if they are likely to grow back from the roots. I did have one of our trees send up several clonally reproduced seedlings this year ("suckers" growing up from a root about 5 feet away from the tree) so that seems to indicate to me that if the roots were healthy there may be a chance that it is a species capable of regeneration from the roots up. One thing you could try is a careful exposure of the roots and scratching the surface of a root to see if it is still green inside.
I hope this helps and thanks for the kind words about my write up.
I keep reading about these papaws on Substack and Green Deane Jordan's "Eat the Weeds" and the more I read the more I want to try one!
We have no native fruits of papaw quality for size, taste and texture, although I bet some of our non-native mango cultivars, especially the highly esteemed North Queensland Bowen or K.P. (Kensington Pride) mango, would compete!
Cheers heaps for that write-up of one of America's forgotten fruits!
Well I would offer to ship you a ripe fruit when i harvest them from our trees but I think I would have to be a billionaire with a supersonic private jet to make that worth your while (as they have a short shelf life at peak ripeness).
I think one could likely grow PawPaw (Asimina triloba) around Canberra, Armidale and/or in most of Tasmania if one could get some good seeds (perhaps some from the wilds of the southern US or a cultivar from Virginia or something).
I am glad you appreciated the write up, thanks for swinging by my friend
Excellent expose! I am definitely going to try growing these (again!). We did try planting a bunch of purchased bare roots many years ago, but none of them took, as far as we know, because we planted them all along the marshy forest edge on our land, which then suffered drought for many years. Your article inspires me to try again, in an area where we could better monitor them.
On another, but equally inspiring note, we are finding mulberry trees growing wild all over the place suddenly! We did plant a few that are now decent little specimens around the immediate space, but not only are the popping up everywhere, but we are also finding old trees we never noticed before, because the canopy on them was too tall for us to notice, until we knew what to look for. It’s been such an amazing exploration as we learn to manage our land for the last 15 years in alignment with what is important to us, and not the established powers around us, which is pretty lame, at best.
I say that because we are seeing changes that are being misunderstood by many, I think. Landowners are ‘selling off’ to ‘wild lands’ projects that they have no idea are coming out of the UN and other globalist operations (ie Agenda 2030 et al) thinking they are doing good when I do not believe that is the intention of these operations at all. On the one hand we have those who are trying to save their lands by creating recreational ATV parks and the like, in order to save their land, or the other extreme, those signing it over to foreign entities whose goal is not in the best long-term interest of humanity, but is selling itself as if it is—make the land untouchable by the masses—meaning everyone but the most bloated global stakeholder capitalists.
Thanks for your educational efforts, they are so very appreciated!
Thanks Mishelle, though I have to give credit where credit is due and I learned most of what I know about Paw Paws from Michael Judd's book so I am able to stand on the shoulders of a giant in a sense as I have all of his hard work and decades of experience to thank for much of what I was able to put together here.
That being said, I have learned a fair bit growing my own trees from seed as well (independently of reading anything in books, just experimenting and using trial and error to learn for a few years) but after reading his book (and a couple others) I was really able to step up my germination and fruit harvesting/preservation game in the last few years.
I have a couple trees on the north side of a 6 foot slatted wooden fence on the south side of our yard and the young trees seemed to like the little beams of sunlight they got through the slats there and then once they got to be 6 feet tall they got used to the sun and really went for it. I had one grow 14 feet high in 7 years! :)
People here go to war with the mulberries that pop up all over (they see them as "weeds") and they (big ag GMO farmers) also often chop, chemically attack and just generally look down on other amazing naturalized/native food/medicine plants like Elderberry, Arugula, Watercress, Nettles and many more.
I am glad you guys are recognizing the blessing of the mulberry trees.
I would be interested in learning more about these landowners you mentioned that are selling off to "wild lands" projects. Is that a local phenomenon where you are at? Or have you heard about it happening elsewhere in the states?
Based on what I have seen here in Ontario, it seems that here they they (the billionaires, government and corporate industry) are not even interested in pretending like they intend on preserving nor expanding "wild" land (nor are they interested in expanding or preserving regeneratively tended forests inhabited by humans) but rather they are clearcutting the Boreal Forest wholesale, draining the rivers, lakes, blasting and using sulfuric acid so they can carve into the bones of the Earth and get at the Cobalt, Lithium and Tantalum that is in the bedrock in northern Ontario. Here in the south of Ontario where we live the government is currently hacking into what little pieces of forest are left (again "wild" or human tended forest alike) using their fascistic Eminent domain (Expropriation legislation) to steal land from people and clear cut forests to expand highways needlessly and build lithium battery factories.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment and for sharing your thoughts on the matter of duplicitous UN activities.
Just reading this would be interested in seeds if have any. Will try in my location in Southeast Texas as well as at my dad's in Northwest Illinois....
Oh sorry I mixed you up with another Michelle. I am currently only able to ship Pawpaw seeds to paid subscribers (so that the shipping costs are covered). If you would like to upgrade to a paid subscription I would be happy to send you some Paw Paw seeds.
I have some seeds with your name on them and will ship them out asap.
Can you send me your preferred mailing address to my proton account please
Send it to : recipesforreciprocity@proton.me
I have several growing in a contained area huddled by elderberries which provide them with shade, the most abundant tree ensconced by a blackberry bush. I made the mistake last season of removing one of the shading elders and the paw paw got sun scalded and lost its leaves. It is seemingly dead. Have you an6 experience with a paw paw growing up from its roots after leaf drop?
Great write up!
I have only grown our two trees successfully from seed and placed them on the north side of a 6 foot high wooden slotted fence to they could acclimatize to sun while young (which worked out beautifully). So I do not have any experience with Paw Paw seedlings dying back due to sun exposure to be able to tell you if they are likely to grow back from the roots. I did have one of our trees send up several clonally reproduced seedlings this year ("suckers" growing up from a root about 5 feet away from the tree) so that seems to indicate to me that if the roots were healthy there may be a chance that it is a species capable of regeneration from the roots up. One thing you could try is a careful exposure of the roots and scratching the surface of a root to see if it is still green inside.
I hope this helps and thanks for the kind words about my write up.
I keep reading about these papaws on Substack and Green Deane Jordan's "Eat the Weeds" and the more I read the more I want to try one!
We have no native fruits of papaw quality for size, taste and texture, although I bet some of our non-native mango cultivars, especially the highly esteemed North Queensland Bowen or K.P. (Kensington Pride) mango, would compete!
Cheers heaps for that write-up of one of America's forgotten fruits!
Well I would offer to ship you a ripe fruit when i harvest them from our trees but I think I would have to be a billionaire with a supersonic private jet to make that worth your while (as they have a short shelf life at peak ripeness).
I think one could likely grow PawPaw (Asimina triloba) around Canberra, Armidale and/or in most of Tasmania if one could get some good seeds (perhaps some from the wilds of the southern US or a cultivar from Virginia or something).
I am glad you appreciated the write up, thanks for swinging by my friend
Excellent expose! I am definitely going to try growing these (again!). We did try planting a bunch of purchased bare roots many years ago, but none of them took, as far as we know, because we planted them all along the marshy forest edge on our land, which then suffered drought for many years. Your article inspires me to try again, in an area where we could better monitor them.
On another, but equally inspiring note, we are finding mulberry trees growing wild all over the place suddenly! We did plant a few that are now decent little specimens around the immediate space, but not only are the popping up everywhere, but we are also finding old trees we never noticed before, because the canopy on them was too tall for us to notice, until we knew what to look for. It’s been such an amazing exploration as we learn to manage our land for the last 15 years in alignment with what is important to us, and not the established powers around us, which is pretty lame, at best.
I say that because we are seeing changes that are being misunderstood by many, I think. Landowners are ‘selling off’ to ‘wild lands’ projects that they have no idea are coming out of the UN and other globalist operations (ie Agenda 2030 et al) thinking they are doing good when I do not believe that is the intention of these operations at all. On the one hand we have those who are trying to save their lands by creating recreational ATV parks and the like, in order to save their land, or the other extreme, those signing it over to foreign entities whose goal is not in the best long-term interest of humanity, but is selling itself as if it is—make the land untouchable by the masses—meaning everyone but the most bloated global stakeholder capitalists.
Thanks for your educational efforts, they are so very appreciated!
Thanks Mishelle, though I have to give credit where credit is due and I learned most of what I know about Paw Paws from Michael Judd's book so I am able to stand on the shoulders of a giant in a sense as I have all of his hard work and decades of experience to thank for much of what I was able to put together here.
That being said, I have learned a fair bit growing my own trees from seed as well (independently of reading anything in books, just experimenting and using trial and error to learn for a few years) but after reading his book (and a couple others) I was really able to step up my germination and fruit harvesting/preservation game in the last few years.
I have a couple trees on the north side of a 6 foot slatted wooden fence on the south side of our yard and the young trees seemed to like the little beams of sunlight they got through the slats there and then once they got to be 6 feet tall they got used to the sun and really went for it. I had one grow 14 feet high in 7 years! :)
People here go to war with the mulberries that pop up all over (they see them as "weeds") and they (big ag GMO farmers) also often chop, chemically attack and just generally look down on other amazing naturalized/native food/medicine plants like Elderberry, Arugula, Watercress, Nettles and many more.
I am glad you guys are recognizing the blessing of the mulberry trees.
I would be interested in learning more about these landowners you mentioned that are selling off to "wild lands" projects. Is that a local phenomenon where you are at? Or have you heard about it happening elsewhere in the states?
Based on what I have seen here in Ontario, it seems that here they they (the billionaires, government and corporate industry) are not even interested in pretending like they intend on preserving nor expanding "wild" land (nor are they interested in expanding or preserving regeneratively tended forests inhabited by humans) but rather they are clearcutting the Boreal Forest wholesale, draining the rivers, lakes, blasting and using sulfuric acid so they can carve into the bones of the Earth and get at the Cobalt, Lithium and Tantalum that is in the bedrock in northern Ontario. Here in the south of Ontario where we live the government is currently hacking into what little pieces of forest are left (again "wild" or human tended forest alike) using their fascistic Eminent domain (Expropriation legislation) to steal land from people and clear cut forests to expand highways needlessly and build lithium battery factories.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment and for sharing your thoughts on the matter of duplicitous UN activities.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paw_Paw,_West_Virginia
I love that! Thanks for highlighting the deep cultural roots of this species through your comment my friend :)