It's raining persimmon

One sunny yet crisp weekend in October, I joined a group of persimmon-hunting friends on a farm in West Virginia.  Following a string of warm days and cool nights, it was almost the perfect time to harvest these cheery little orange fruits... almost.  The first one I picked was not quite ripe, and I quickly learned why people talk about the Hachiya persimmon's Pucker Power!  After this I only ate the fruits so obviously ripe that their sticky jam-like flesh oozed out from wrinkled skins - yum.  As for the not-so-ripe ones, we carted a bag of them home to ripen on the counter for a persimmon pudding.

Really the best way to pick persimmons is to gather the fallen from the ground after the first frosts - if you can find them before the local wildlife do.  The other best way, as we discovered, is to shake the tree while singing "It's raining persimMEN!"

More persimmon facts, including history and growth habits, plus recipes here:
http://www.eattheweeds.com/persimmons-pure-pucker-power-2/

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/12/chocolate-persimmon-muffins-recipe-kim-boyce-good-to-the-grain/

http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/12/13/hachiya-persimmons/

http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2012/12/04/roasted-persimmon-brie-salad/

Also in season right now:
Apple
Basil
Eggplant
Kale
Osage orange
Pawpaw 
Potato
Tomato
Walnut
Winter squash