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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
October 29, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
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October 29, 2020
 
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mt Page A-10 - Shelton-Mason County Journal Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020 PEBMAGULTURE Pawpaws — ‘mythical fruit awpaws are a fruit with mythical sta- tus, more prominent in songs than stores. I’ve been chasing them since I was in the Northeast. When you taste their tropi- cal decadence and your bodfs sent humming by their superabundant nu— trients, you’re sure they grow in some place far from our dark rainy shores. It has been posited that the largest edible fruit in- digenous to North America has been growing here since it was orphaned by the split of Pangaea. It retained its sumptuous flavor while adapting to colder tempera- tures, particularly those of the Midwest and East Coast. A ripe pawpaw has the tex- ture of rich custard and the taste of banana-pineapple- mango, perhaps with a hint of . Shelf life is the downside to this delicious fruit. It is so perishable that you’re unlike- ly to find it outside of farmers markets or fancy eateries that source it locally for ice cream, smoothies or beer. It’s easier to grow it than buy it, and fortunately our climate ers By ALEX FETHIERE We specialize in quality, pain free, dental work, delivered compassionately and with your preferences as our top priority. is reasonably hospi- table to this charm- ing tree. hearkens to some- thing equatorial, the leaves have the size and shine of a jungle plant. They always have a pen- dulous quality no matter the height of the tree, which usually reaches something like feet as it spreads to a pyramidal growth habit. As such, it is a great understory tree for beneath our existing canopies. As an understory tree, pawpaws do not require the full sunlight of taller trees. This doesn’t mean that they prefer darkness, although too much light will burn sap— lings. I’m told they will fruit even in partial shade, but the fruiting specimens I have seen bask in full sun at least some of the day. Because the pawpaw spreads by lateral roots that form adventitious shoots, it might be able to feed a root network by mi— grating thickets into sun patches. Walnuts are one North- /west tree particularly suited to towering over a belt of pawpaws. The Juglans ge— .’ , \V Dental Group g. Schedule a time that works for you! With hours from early morning to late evening at two locations. Just like the fruit nus, which includes English and black walnuts, exudes a toxin, juglone, from its roots. This compound has been found to damage and kill apple trees up to 50 feet distant from black walnut trees. J uglone is particularly prevalent at the base of black walnuts, and stifles competi- tion from most other foliage -—‘but not pawpaws. Soils recommended for pawpaws are rich, moist and well-drained. I’ve planted them in clay, silty loam, near water, and in sand and have seen them survive in all cir— cumstances. They don’t like wet feet but appreciate access to water. Competition from trailing blackberry has been the big— gest problem so far, and deer have been no problem at all. At the moment, sand with a lot of bigleaf maple duff seems to yield the best re- sults, but that remains to be seen as the trees flower and bear fruit. In keeping with the tree’s other exceptional qualities, the flowers are fleshy, showy purplish growths with a whiff of rotting meat. Take comfort knowing that if we lose hon- eybees to colony collapse dis- order, mites, and murder hor- nets, the pawpaws will still Pawpaws might b he largest edible fruit Indigenous to North America. Journal photo by Alex Féthiere be pollinated as long as there are carrion flies and beetles. Some orchardists have been known to throw guts around their pawpaws, but it’s more common to pollinate them by hand. Given that pawpaws are most common on the East Coast and in the Midwest, I wanted to be sure they would yield in-the Northwest. Sure enough, I found a bearing tree in Belfair and another in Portland. Local nurser— ies supply and continue to develop this tree, spreading food sovereignty wherever it grows. A Wisconsin founder of a permaculture intentional community, Dreamtime Vil- lage, said he is planting paw- ‘paw patches all over their land, because no one is plant- ing pawpaws this far north (we are!) and they will be feeding everyone in 50 years. In thesetimes of instability and rapid change, one can see why he believes that planting pawpaw patches is the most radical thing you can do. I Alex Fe’thie‘re has lived on Harstine Island long enough to forget'New York City, ' where he built community gardens and double-dug his suburban sod into a victory garden. He can be reached at 0nlandist@gmail.com. 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