Posted on 02/10/2009 4:35:38 PM PST by posterchild
Somewhere on an old Nike missile site in an undisclosed Chicago location, a tiny tropical-looking paw-paw tree is rising mysteriously out of the scrubby soil.
Credit its emergence to John Vukmirovich, the Johnny Appleseed of the pawpaw world – a self-proclaimed member of the “pawpaw conspiracy” (a type of pawpaw liberation front, if you will), a surreptitious sower extraordinaire of this country’s largest native fruit.
Never heard of it? That may change. Earlier this month Ohio declared the oval, green produce its “official state native fruit.” And proponents of local food, who eschew imported fruit, regularly declare the environmental and culinary virtues of the pawpaw.
The fruit is a taste-treat usually described in terms of custard, crème brûlée, mango, banana, vanilla, even pineapple. Or, simply, delicious.
“And there is a deliciousness in the secrecy of the pawpaw,” says Mr. Vukmirovich, a college teacher. “That’s the love of being in a conspiracy. You’re on the inside. You’re in the know.”
The forgotten pawpaw was first spread throughout the mid-Atlantic and westward by native Americans as a source of nutrition as the nomadic tribes pursued wild game, historians say.
The tree grows throughout a wide swath of the Midwest – which explains why it is sometimes called the “Indiana banana” and why some Michigan pioneers named their town Paw Paw for the trees that once grew along its river.
Pawpaws disappeared from the American consciousness around World War I. They weren’t really rediscovered until the mid-1970s, when a young geneticist named Neal Peterson picked one up off the ground and bit into it.
(Excerpt) Read more at features.csmonitor.com ...
Paw Paw Patch
Where, oh where is pretty little Susie?
Where, oh where is pretty little Susie?
Where, oh where is pretty little Susie?
Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.
Come on, boys [or girls, or kids], let’s go find her,
Come on, boys, let’s go find her,
Come on, boys, let’s go find her,
Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.
Pickin’ up paw-paws, puttin’ ‘em in her pockets,
Pickin’ up paw-paws, puttin’ ‘em in her pockets,
Pickin’ up paw-paws, puttin’ ‘em in her pockets,
Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.
I remember this from when I was a kid and that’s been many moons ago:
Paw-Paw Patch
Where, oh where, oh where is Susie?
Where, oh where, oh where is Susie?
Where, oh where, of where is Susie?
Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.
Chorus:
Picking up paw-paws; put ‘em in a basket.
Picking up paw-paws; put ‘em in a basket.
Picking up paw-paws;put ‘em in a basket.
Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.
Come along, boys, and let’s go find her.
Come along, boys, and let’s go find her.
Come along, boys, and let’s go find her.
Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch
Repeat Chorus:
She’s a queen of old Hawaii.
She’s a queen of old Hawaii.
She’s a queen of old Hawaii.
Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.
Repeat Chorus:
She can teach you how to hulu.
She can teach you how to hulu.
She can teach you how to hulu.
Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.
Repeat Chorus:
By 2 seconds!
Guess I’ve been living in a cave:)
That was a close one! I remember it from when I was a kid growing up in Indiana. Had no idea what a Paw Paw was until now.
You’re a farmer’s market guy. Any experiences?
I remember hearing that song in school around 1970.
I’ve often wanted to plant one of the trees. They take a while before they bear. Pests don’t bother ‘em much. The name “Paw Paw” is believed to be a corruption of “papaya”.
why some Michigan pioneers named their town Paw Paw for the trees that once grew along its river.
Not with paw-paws but today, at a fruit stand, I had the absolute BEST pineapple juice in my life. No acidity at all. Fresh squeezed.
If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.
Thanks for the ping. I thought they were talking about the real Paw Paw, Detroit Tiger, Charley Maxwell...
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=maxwech01
http://blogs.suntimes.com/bowman/2011/08/ramble_with_vukmirovich_pawpaw.html
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