Way Down Yonder

...in the paw paw patch

It's paw paw season here at the ranch. Did you know that paw paws are the only tropical fruit to have survived the ice age in North America? Or that they're also our largest edible native fruit? Well now you do.

Paw paws grow in clusters, and since the fruit is quite heavy the trees sag under the weight. Between the branches touching the ground and the leaves already beginning to change, the trees look a bit ragged by the end of the season.


The tree on the right has had about enough.

Paw paws used to grow all over the place in the wild, but they're not very common anymore. A lot of people have probably never eaten one. I think they taste sort of like the blandest parts of a banana, an apple, and a mango all mushed together. Due to unfortunate circumstances, I can't smell a paw paw without thinking of a particularly filthy cat. However, most people who try paw paws really love them.


Kelly has enough paw paws to last through halftime.