Where to find American Persimmons in the Harrisburg area

Submitted by TheAJGman t3_zo9y1g in Pennsylvania

Like the title says, I'm looking to find American Persimmons around Harrisburg. I know none of the stores sell them, but I'm hoping there might be an Amish farm or something that does. Either that or a grove of wild trees in the game lands.

I did manage to find one in a coffee shop parking lot that had a handful of fruits I could reach, but it's in a very public place so I didn't want to be too weird about collecting them.

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Jon3141592653589 t1_j0ls1ew wrote

You might be too late. My wife went on a persimmon rampage about a month ago, with a very large quantity from a tall tree next to an old barn at her family's farm, and our house smelled ridiculous for over a week while she processed them. The remainder at the tree were approaching overripe at most recent check (and/or were not safely reachable).
If you're curious: Those that were slightly underripe were kept in boxes with red bananas until ready. Many were reduced to pulp and frozen for future projects. The lesser fruit ended up in too-healthy-tasting muffins and batches of astringent, grainy, and gelatinous spreads, which are pretty good on a ham-and-brie sandwich if that's your style. Meanwhile, the finer ones led to some amazing dessert items, in particular cookies, ice creams, etc. It was definitely a good season for persimmons, though.

Photographic evidence of astringent, grainy, gelatinous persimmon spreads (note how they haven't been eaten/gifted yet)... https://i.imgur.com/pRcmDin.jpg

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Jumpin_Joeronimo t1_j0lsvwx wrote

https://fallingfruit.org/. Shows a few in the area.

You could also try https://www.inaturalist.org/ click on 'explore' then find American persimmon in species and type Harrisburg, PA for location. There is a map tab you can look to see where people have ID'd the species.

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TheAJGman OP t1_j0luijv wrote

Oh shit I didn't even think about checking the iNaturalist map. Looks like there's a few much older trees in my area, I'll have to go on a hike and see if they still have any fruit.

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Aggravating_Public46 t1_j0n7cet wrote

Any hunters in your family? Ask if they know of any hunting spots that have persimmon trees. If the landowner plants for animal habitat, you can bet they also planted persimmon trees.

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TheAJGman OP t1_j0n89d3 wrote

The hunters in the family all hunt on family land which doesn't have persimmons, I've checked. Though I'll probably be planting some of my saplings there next fall.

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Callipeartree t1_j0pvti6 wrote

I gathered a bunch in mid October—I’m in Bucks/Philly. You’ll probably have to find a local tree or orchard. Just like Pawpaw, American Persimmon is not mainstream and hard to store fresh.

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kdani17 t1_j0m1axe wrote

Trader Joe’s in Camp Hill has a bunch

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TheAJGman OP t1_j0m28sh wrote

American Persimmons? I've only ever seen Asian varieties in stores. Serves me right for not being obsessed with Trader Joe's like everyone else.

EDIT: according to the website they only have Fuyu.

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kdani17 t1_j0m7mlv wrote

I’m sorry. I didn’t know there was a difference. I’ve never seen or heard of American Persimmons.

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rivershimmer t1_j0qbc0e wrote

The difference I see is that the Asian ones are sweet enough to eat like a plum. The American variety is more astringent, but good for baking, jam, etc.

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