We have been blessed with black walnut trees and a butternut tree. These have really great yields every one or two years. We also have a persimmon tree, some elderberries, and wild blackberry bushes.
I am still learning how to tell when a persimmon is ripe. They tasted great then, but awful when not ripe. For now, I just eat them straight off the tree and let the birds and possums have at the rest.
If I ever get really good at it, I’ll make some jam, but I read that even 1 unripe persimmon could spoil a whole batch of jam, so I won’t waste the time, effort, and other ingredients until I am confident in this ability.
I only got 6 jars of blackberries last year, due to the drought. With the swimming pool this year, I hope to be able to provide more water. However, the apple/fruit tree orchard, and the blueberries, strawberries, and thornless black berries will get the priority.
The best purchase last year turned out to be the Goji berry. It’s drought tolerant. Some of the other stuff just wilted and died, but the Goji hung in there. Hope to get some fruit this year.
Hmmmm wonder if gojis would grow in our area? That sounds so cool!
I’m impressed with your 6 jars! I was tickled to get a few handfuls of blackberries from my one berry bush. They were really good, and somehow the birds had mercy and let me have them. We planted two more bushes, so we’ll see.
You are in another universe when it comes to persimmons. I have no experience with them at all. I do wish you well with them!
Never gardened where we could have persimmons, but as a kid we hunted every year on a friends ranch in Northern California that had some persimmon trees on it. Grandpa had a tree or two, also.
Bottom line, I learned that persimmons are not ripe for eating, or jam making, until they hit the soft & gooey stage AFTER a hard frost or two. Frost doesn’t ripen them, but they take so long to ripen that they are not ripe before the frosts hit.
What kind of persimmon tree? There are several different types. Black persimmons are the wild ones, orange persimmons are either small or the size of tennis balls.