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Common Name; Paw Paw Scientific Name; Asinona Triloba

Paw Paw is a native American fruit that is little known and little used. This is unfortunate because its delicious! It belongs to a family of very interesting plants, some members have fragrant flowers and some members have fragrant fruit. Paw Paw is a fragrant fruit. Its hard to describe a fragrant fruit because most European fruits are not, but, tropical fruits are often perfumed, and this is certainly the case with the Paw Paw. Its flesh is creamy like custard, and has a flavor like a mix of banana,mango, and peach. Most importantly, its an American native and likes to grow here.
The Paw Paw is a mid sized tree that can most commonly be found growing along river and creeks. It likes to drop its fruit into streams that carry them down stream. It has large leaves and a thin trunk and branch. Once you have spotted on Paw Paw tree, there will be many around it.
Though the tree is slight, it is incredibly productive. When they are in season, they drop many, many pounds of fruit. Most Americans just walk over them and squish them. If they only knew how delicious they are and what an opportunity they are missing. If you have a woods near you, I highly recommend you find some paw paw trees. The key is finding them before the season starts....
I suggest finding your paw paw grove in May. You can check the size of the fruit, which at that time of the year should be about the size of a dime. Then, every three weeks, go back and monitor the situation so see how the fruit is developing. Catching the paw paw season is all about keeping an eye on your "Patch".
Paw Paw's drop their fruit when they are ripe. You know they are ready to eat when you visit your patch and find the fruit is dropping on the ground. Some will get squished, and I suggest you skip those. The ones that land in tact are the ones you want to collect. Bring a bunch of shopping bags, because when they drop, they drop a lot of fruit.
What to do with Paw Paws? Well, you can eat them fresh. Wait til they have some black marks on the skin, and just dig in with a spoon. They have large seeds and you eat the flesh away from the pit and spit the pit out. Eating a fresh paw paw is something you have to learn to do. How do you describe how you eat a watermelon? Just dive in and figure it out.
You can also whisk the flesh with water, add sugar, and make a really delicious punch. I put the fruit through a food mill and produce pulp. I then add equal quantities of sugar, a touch of lemon peal, and cook the mixture on a low heat until it bubbles. Put it in a can and you have a delicious jam for later usage.

Disclaimer: The author makes no guarantees as to the the curative effect of any herb or tonic on this website, and no visitor should attempt to use any of the information herein provided as treatment for any illness, weakness, or disease without first consulting a physician or health care provider. Pregnant women should always consult first with a health care professional before taking any treatment.