# Tree w/ small orange fruit??



## Kstornado11 (Mar 17, 2006)

Anyone know what kind of tree has small, orange colored fruits that sort of resemble tomatoes? Vey large tree, but since the leaves have already fallen, I am at a loss. :shrug:


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## Kstornado11 (Mar 17, 2006)

I found it... it's a Persimmon tree! And the turkeys love 'em! :baby04:


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## swampgirl (Aug 29, 2006)

Turkeys! I love 'em. Make a pie with them; very much like pumpkin pie. They have to be ripe first. Use lots of spices & sugar. They can also be eaten when ripe.


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## Zebraman (Aug 11, 2006)

Hey Kstornado;Sounds like American Persimmon,They taste Great when they are dead ripe(soft and Squishy).If they are still firm you'll Never eat another one!-


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## Kstornado11 (Mar 17, 2006)

Well, I am trying to figure out how to GET to them, as the tree is HUGE, and we don't have any ladders nearly tall enough. They are starting to ripen, but I fear if they begin to fall, the poultry will beat us to them !! :baby04:


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## Zebraman (Aug 11, 2006)

Hey Kstornado11;Any good garden center will sell those wire 'Fruit-Pickers" that you attach to the end of a pole.If its not completely soft don't eat it until it is.Trust Me.-


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## mtman (Sep 2, 2004)

put a tarp under the tree they are better when they fall and after a frost we have 16 of them


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## marytx (Dec 4, 2002)

Persimmons store very well just put in a freezer whole. Even if they are picked prematurely, after being in the freezer they will be soft and wonderful when defrosted.

Last year a friend of my Mom's hurried out and picked all her not-quite-ripe persimmons because it was going to frost. Now, of course, persimmons are best after that first frost, but she didn't know that. Didn't know what to do with them after she picked them, either, so gave a bunch to my Mom, who gave them to me. I stuck them in the freezer, and we have been enjoying wonderful persimmon cake.  

As someone else mentioned, don't taste a not-soft persimmon, or you won't want any more. (They are bitter before ripe.)

mary


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## harrisjnet (Jul 13, 2006)

Persimmons also make great Jam or preserves.


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## Kstornado11 (Mar 17, 2006)

Thanks for all the tips! I have taken your warnings seriously and not dared to taste any quite yet, as they are still pretty firm. We have had a few frosts here already, so I guess now we just wait.... and battle the poultry over them! Maybe I can lure them away w/ the hundreds of walnuts while DH gathers the persimmons.... :baby04:


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## mikee22712 (Sep 29, 2005)

Walnuts they are great to just a lot of work to get them out of shells and hulls


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## PyroDon (Jul 30, 2006)

Kstornado11 said:


> Well, I am trying to figure out how to GET to them, as the tree is HUGE, and we don't have any ladders nearly tall enough. They are starting to ripen, but I fear if they begin to fall, the poultry will beat us to them !! :baby04:


put down tarps or bed sheets and shake the tree .
mom makes a pudding out of them great stuff but super rich . 
use a pulper to seperate seeds out . When ripe they are very sweet with a dry taste , a bit sriveled and greyish .


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## Kstornado11 (Mar 17, 2006)

PyroDon said:


> put down tarps or bed sheets and shake the tree .
> mom makes a pudding out of them great stuff but super rich .
> use a pulper to seperate seeds out . When ripe they are very sweet with a dry taste , a bit sriveled and greyish .


I've tried shaking the tree, it doesn't budge!  I think it's alot stronger than I am. My 3 year old is fascinated by the persimmons, insists I pull an old dog house over under the tree & knock them out w/ a broom handle... but I am no longer able to jump high enough, on top of the dog house, and am afraid I will miss on the way back down & break something, including the persimmons! :help: I think the poultry will win this one. :shrug:


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## PyroDon (Jul 30, 2006)

Kstornado11 said:


> I've tried shaking the tree, it doesn't budge!  I think it's alot stronger than I am. My 3 year old is fascinated by the persimmons, insists I pull an old dog house over under the tree & knock them out w/ a broom handle... but I am no longer able to jump high enough, on top of the dog house, and am afraid I will miss on the way back down & break something, including the persimmons! :help: I think the poultry will win this one. :shrug:



toss a rope up high around it and pull it slightly with the car/truck 

I cheat and put a tire over the loader bucket on the tractor and bump the trees
ended up with 8 five gallon buckets full last fall


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## suburbanite (Jul 27, 2006)

Google 'persimmon' under 'images' first to make sure that is indeed what you have.

There are two kinds of persimmon, a pointy-acorn shaped one and a roundish flattened one that is a bit like one of those 'donut peaches' in shape. The acorn shaped one is best when it is soft and rather gelatinous inside. The flattish one (Hachiya) is less common and should be eaten when somewhat hard.

A good web search should give you all the tips you need to make use of your persimmons. I recently heard a convenient way to deal with oversupply of ripe fruit--freeze them. Apparently they freeze to a sherbert-consistency and can be scooped and eaten like ice-cream when frozen.


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## Kstornado11 (Mar 17, 2006)

Well, yesterday the guineas discovered the persimmons, and the turkeys and chickens were standing under the tree, gobbling up what they dropped. They are mostly pretty squishy, over-rioe now.... oh well, the poultry are getting a treat!


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## RedEarth (Sep 21, 2005)

You might want to try one before you call them a loss. The persimons I've seen are really really soft when ripe. Jellyish. Before that they're not so tasty.


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## swamp man (Dec 25, 2005)

RedEarth said:


> You might want to try one before you call them a loss. The persimons I've seen are really really soft when ripe. Jellyish. Before that they're not so tasty.


Exactly right.They're really smushy before they're good to eat.Also,they should come off the limb with just the lightest touch.If ya' have to pull on one to harvest it,it's likely not fit to eat.Around here,it usually takes a light frost before they are any good.I climb the tree,and shake it from the top,but PyroDons idea is a good one.Be wary,though.I've gotten stung by saddlebacks several times foolin' around with persimmon trees.They seem to like 'em.


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## sunnygrl (Sep 27, 2006)

swamp man said:


> Be wary,though.I've gotten stung by saddlebacks several times foolin' around with persimmon trees.They seem to like 'em.


what is a saddleback, i did a search and came up with a caterpiller, isthat what you mean, I haven't seen such a thing around here... so was unfamiliar :shrug:


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## countrymouse (Nov 9, 2004)

SE Kansas doesn't have the climate to grow those Hachiya persimmons. The fruit of the American persimmon, _Diospyros virginiana_, are much smaller (actually about the size of an acorn) than their Chinese cousins _Diospyros kaki_ (the big suckers you guys grow out in CA). Some people say the native ones are more flavorful, but I'll leave that up to debate.  



suburbanite said:


> Google 'persimmon' under 'images' first to make sure that is indeed what you have.
> 
> There are two kinds of persimmon, a pointy-acorn shaped one and a roundish flattened one that is a bit like one of those 'donut peaches' in shape. The acorn shaped one is best when it is soft and rather gelatinous inside. The flattish one (Hachiya) is less common and should be eaten when somewhat hard.
> 
> A good web search should give you all the tips you need to make use of your persimmons. I recently heard a convenient way to deal with oversupply of ripe fruit--freeze them. Apparently they freeze to a sherbert-consistency and can be scooped and eaten like ice-cream when frozen.


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## swamp man (Dec 25, 2005)

sunnygrl said:


> what is a saddleback, i did a search and came up with a caterpiller, isthat what you mean, I haven't seen such a thing around here... so was unfamiliar :shrug:


Sorry for the slow responce,SG.........I haven't been on the forum in a while.
Yep,that's the critter.Not sure if they live up your way,or not.
They're hard to spot.I've never seen one until after it's got me.


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## Kstornado11 (Mar 17, 2006)

Do these things ever FALL from the tree?? They are STILL up there, and the turkey hens occasionally fly up and eat some (toms are too heavy, but they scramble for what the hens drop). They are still on the tree, even after a pretty good snowstorm in late November. I figured they would eventually FALL down on their own?


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## RipVanArkie (Jan 2, 2007)

I'm really surprised you don't have smaller trees around one so big. They spread faster than pines here. They taste like juicy fruit gum to me.


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## silkiechick (Jan 15, 2007)

i raise american persimmons here in pa they are about the size of our large plums. they are not ripe till they fall from the tree otherwise they are to bitter. yes if you eat one not ripe you'll never eat one again,lol. i bet your chooks are loveing it, boy what a treat they are getting too!

if you place a non ripe in the fridge for a few days it will ripen it. they are to be soft and quishy when ripe so don't throw the ones on the ground out they are just ripened that's why they are falling. we collect them after they fall. yes they have to have first frost or in the fridge for 2-3 days to be ripe. you can freeze them and make lots of yummies like stated above. you can find lots or recipes online for makeing things for them. i also raise paw paw trees they make awesome yummies too my kid's love all the goodies from both fruit!


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## BJ (Aug 8, 2004)

We've got several persimmon trees on our property. I've ordered seedlings from the Dept of Conservation several years in a row.....never have gotten any to survive the drought we've been in the last few years. My husband wants a grove of these trees to grow along the edge of our timber as they are deer magnets!!!


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