Near the main entrance to Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery stands a 10-foot-tall tree that come October is loaded with heart-shaped orange fruit. It perplexes many who visit Oakland for its annual Sunday in the Park celebration. “Is that a peach tree?” they ask.
No, it’s not a peach tree. Those have long finished fruiting. It’s a persimmon tree bearing heart-shaped Hachiya persimmons. Like our native wild persimmons, the unripe Hachiya has high levels of tannin and is astringent and bitter. When the fruit is completely soft, it’s luscious and sweet.
Robby Astrove of Atlanta’s Concrete Jungle is very familiar with that tree and with countless other persimmon trees across Atlanta. Concrete Jungle is a grass-roots urban fruit tree foraging collective with volunteers who pick unwanted fruit, vegetables and nuts and share their harvest with local shelters and food banks.
“We have over 900 trees in [Concrete Jungle’s] database right now. We harvest the fruit that would go to waste and get it to people who typically have zero fruit in their diet,” Astrove said. They’ve donated more than 3,000 pounds of fruit so far this year.
In addition to harvesting persimmons, Astrove is a big advocate of planting persimmon trees. “They’re very tolerant of urban conditions like pollution, heat and bad soil. They make a great landscape tree and they bear delicious fruit,” he said. He’s just planted a persimmon tree on the site of the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market and another at the East Atlanta library.
As an environmental educator, he's working with a number of Atlanta Public School properties to establish orchards. “Persimmons are ready to eat in the fall, so they’re perfect for school gardens and orchards because that’s when the kids are there,” he said.
Native persimmon trees can be found in Atlanta city parks such as Candler Park and Washington Park and in woodlands all over the area. The fruits of the wild persimmon are delicate, so they’re difficult to cultivate commercially, but you can sometimes find them available from someone who has wild persimmons on their property. If you want a persimmon tree of your own, check out the Atlanta Local Food Initiative’s third annual fruit tree, vine and berry bush sale this January.
Right now at local farmers markets, I’m finding Asian persimmons, primarily Japanese cultivars that were introduced in this country in the 1800s. In addition to the Hachiya, you’ll find the Fuyu persimmon. It’s shaped like a tomato and is a non-astringent variety that can be eaten while it’s still firm.
A firm persimmon will take up to a week to ripen and once ripe, should be eaten right away or stored in the refrigerator for a few days. Firm persimmons are perfect to eat like fresh apples or melon while ripe persimmons make luscious puddings, ice cream and jams.
At local farmers markets
Cooking demos
6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17. Last demonstration of the season. Chef Seth Freedman of Ruby Root Connections. East Atlanta Village Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.farmeav.com
9:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 19. Last demonstration of the season. Chef Roy Eyester of Rosebud working with African squash. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 19. Chef Ryan Smith of Empire State South. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
11:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 20. Last demonstration of the season. Chef Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene and Holeman & Finch Public House. Grant Park Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.grantparkmarket.org
For sale
Vegetables and fruit: African squash, apples, arugula, Asian greens, beans, beets, broccoli raab, butternut squash, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, collards, dandelion, endive, escarole, fennel, field peas, frisee, hareuki and other turnips, herbs, kale, leeks, lettuce, mache, mizuna, mushrooms, mustard greens, pea shoots, pecans, peppers, persimmons, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, spinach, sweet potatoes, tomatoes
From local reports
Choctaw Persimmon Pudding
Hands on: 15 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Serves: 8
Recipes like this were popular anywhere people had a bounty of ripe persimmons to use up. It will take approximately 4 Hachiya, 8 Fuyu or 12 native persimmons to make 2 cups of puree. Make sure the fruit is fully ripe, discard the skin and any seeds and puree the flesh in a food processor before proceeding with the recipe.
2 cups persimmon puree
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups low-fat buttermilk
2 eggs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Whipped cream or ice cream, optional
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-12-inch baking dish.
In a large mixing bowl, combine persimmon puree, sugar, flour, buttermilk, eggs and butter. Mix thoroughly, then pour into prepared baking dish. Bake 30 minutes or until edges turn brown and pudding is set. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or ice cream as desired.
Adapted from "Spirit of the Harvest" by Beverly Cox and Martin Jacobs (Abrams, $40).
Per serving: 459 calories (percent of calories from fat, 15), 7 grams protein, 93 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 8 grams fat (4 grams saturated), 70 milligrams cholesterol, 75 milligrams sodium.
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