This is the fourth post in a new series, in which Hive account@papa-pepper will share about different plants that they plan on growing on the homestead, and why.

Our fourth featured plant is the American Persimmon Tree, and we even found a few mature trees growing on our land!

AMERICAN PERSIMMON VIDEO

BACKGROUND

This is another plant that I had not previously met until we moved to Arkansas. Wild American Persimmon trees are all over the place down here, so there can be a lot of free food in the fall if you know where to look. Since we will be focusing on edible and useful plants, this one is right up our alley.

PLANT INFO

The American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) is a common tree in the Southeastern United States that can grow over 70 feet tall. The fruit that it produces are often around an inch in diameter and are a beautiful orange color. It can take six years or more for the trees to produce fruit, and both a male and female plant are needed for pollination in the wild.

OTHER INFO

While the fruit and wood often get most of the focus, the leaves of the American Persimmon tree can actually be made into a tea. Some will even roast the seeds as a coffee substitute too.

The fruit is very astringent prior to ripening, but once the fruit falls from the tree or is exposed to frost it is usually ready to eat. These persimmons can be eaten raw, dried, or cooked, and are high in Vitamin C. Personally, I think that they taste almost like orange-flavored freezer pops when they are ripe.

PROPAGATION

When it comes to propagation, the best method for this particular tree is planting the seeds. Once a rootstock is established, you can graft into it, but other methods of propagation often just won't work with the American Persimmon.

Since a variety of animals enjoy the ripe fruit, often small seedlings can be found all over the place in areas where these trees can be found. Here is a video of some that we recently found down on our land.

That was a very nice surprise to be able to find mature trees producing fruit already on our land. That is just one of the blessings of taking inventory of what you already have rather than just bulldozing everything and starting from scratch.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

It is a blessing to be able to meet so many new plants and to have the room to grow them. American Persimmon trees will be some of the bigger trees on our property, since the ripe fruit drops to the earth anyway. Many of our other fruit trees will be pruned back and kept small, but these will be allowed to grow taller.

Since the fruit can also provide food for animals, it'll be a multi-purpose plant for us. Also, with some other incredible varieties of Persimmon available around the world, we may try growing some different kinds and grafting them onto the native ones. We will keep you posted!