In which I harvest Japanese Persimmons and am made very happy

There is no way to share the lovely fragrance of a newly cut Japanese persimmon or the soft and slippery mouth feel of the deeply orange ripe fruit by word only; American persimmons at their best can be delightful as well but I find they have a very different texture. Trust me, eating a ripe Japanese persimmon is only comparable to eating fresh lichee fruit and always involves giggling and swooning!

Here in the lee of the Blue Ridge we had our first frost last night.  In the excitement the persimmon tree, as is its habit, dropped nearly all of its suddenly yellow leaves in a golden pile at the bottom of the trunk – swish/plop!

This dramatic act leaves all the fruit exposed and ready to come to full ripeness.

Only one of my children and one grandchild enjoy the fruit slurped directly out of the skin so I will make a puree of the rest to use for a sweet bread or possible a jam. Our harvest was close to 30 fruit this year.