It’s persimmon season, writes Janet B. Carson in Style.
The common persimmon, Diospyros virginiana, is a slow-growing, midsize, native tree that bears a heavy fruit crop, right about now.
The Latin name means “food of the gods,” but if you have ever bitten into a common persimmon prior to a frost, you know even “the gods” would wait to be served. Unripe persimmons define the English phrase “pucker power” — the fruits are highly astringent until fully ripe.
While frost is not needed to ripen them, they do require a long season to become ripe, and if not ripe, they border on inedible. See Saturday’s Democrat-Gazette for tips on growing these delicious, yet tricky, fruits.