Persimmons

Fuyu persimmons.

What can you find at a pick-your-own farm in November?  Why, persimmons!  Sherwood Orchards offered a weekend of persimmon picking, and we couldn't resist!  I love persimmons.  They are an Asian fruit which originated in China and was adopted with enthusiasm in Japan and later here on the west coast.  They ripen well off the tree.  Fuyu persimmons are sweet and mellow, but other varieties must be thoroughly ripened to a custardy softness before eating to avoid their astringent unripe state.  This is persimmon season, and I have been seeing their lovely orange globes at all the grocery stores, but making special trips to Uwajimaya in Beaverton where they have been offering them lately at $1.49/lb, roughly 1/3 to 1/4 the price of other stores.  I had never seen them actually growing, and getting to pick them ourselves was a treat.  Sherwood Orchards packs a lot of varieties in one farm just a stone's throw from downtown Sherwood, where they have been growing fruit for over 150 years.  Their earliest crop is sweet cherries in July, followed by pie cherries, peaches, plums, nectarines, apples, pears, quince, and finally persimmons.  

Hachiya persimmon.