Bass has been promoting Pawpaw for as long as I have been a F4FF member. This is for you Bass. As mentioned in the article, it has an avocado consistency with a mango-banana flavor profile is an accurate description according to my taste buds.

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201501260001

Another fruit I love!!

That was nice to read, I'm glad pawpaws are getting some attention in other parts of the world. I wonder if the farmers are growing seed grown plants or grafted selections? I like the idea of processing the fruit into gelato to get around the shipping and spoilage issues that pawpaw have.

Mike in Hanover, VA

I'm new to figs but not new to PawPaws!  Certainly enjoy watching the fruit grow and eating them.  I have three varieties, each 8-12 feet in height, with them bearing fruit for the past three years.  The main difficulty I've had with them is the difficulty in eating a hundred fruit within a few days.  Once ripe, the fruit begins to spoil fairly quickly, quicker than figs from my experience.  Young trees don't like full sun and don't like being transplanted.  My trees are understory, under a canopy of Austrian Pines and Pin Oaks.  Older trees tolerate full sun and bear more fruit because of the increased sun exposure.  The trees seem to be drought tolerant.  PawPaw is the largest native Kansas fruit, growing wild in groves in Eastern Kansas.  Newer varieties tend to have fewer seeds.  Others may know much more about this, but there actually are fall PawPaw festivals in several US states.  I hope to attend one in the next 2-3 years.  I believe that my trees were ordered from ForestFarm.com.  One Green World and Edible Landscaping carry great varieties.  I live on 1.25 acres in the middle of my city and am trying to grow as many different fruiting plants as I can for the enjoyment of my children and grandchildren.  I'm glad I planted the PawPaws some 5-6 year back.  Minimal pests, heat/cold/drought tolerant with tropical looking leaves, strange, little purple flowers pollinated by flies (in the spring, I hang up pieces of road-kill in the trees to attract the flies) and great tasting fruit.  How can anyone go wrong with all of that?

I planted 3 from Stark Bros. this fall. Maybe in a couple years we will get to try one or two

I got a few of these trees some from seeds I  got from Tennessee and a couple grated trees from georgia collins and eastern. I have them in pots light shade. I will put in partial to full sun in  another year! I have never eaten one but I can hardly wait!

Steve, I was aware of people hanging up rotting meat for pollination, I'm not so sure my neighbors would take to kindly to that. As far as having too much fruit, can't pawpaws be scooped out and seeded and frozen without processing?

Our lots are 1+ acre each, wooded, and the neighbors don't spend much time outdoors. I hang a small piece of rotting meat in each tree. Not much odor that I can tell. My youngest daughter is getting married in the yard this May- my wife says the hanging meat is not happening this year! I am aware of various ways PawPaws can be used other than eating out of hand. I'm going to try making PawPaw ice cream. Attending a PawPaw festival will, I'm certain, give me many other ideas.

I am aware of a couple of people that are breeding and improving pawpaws. They seem to improve with each generation of selected breeding. Jerry Lehman, here in Indiana is doing a lot of work with them and coming up with some amazing fruit. Also, Cliff England in KY is working with them. And then there is Kentucky State University, they are doing a lot with them, too. And Neal Peterson, of the Peterson pawpaws is continuing his work. Cliff told me last week that he has sold a ton of scion wood this season, already, and a lot of it went to Korea. I am growing them from selected seed each year and this year I was able to get some really interesting hand pollinated seed. For those of you with named varieties, I hope you are saving your seed. With both parents named and selected for their good qualities, the seeds will produce fruit as good as, or better than the parents.

Pawpaws are one of my most looked forward to things each year. We have wild patches all over the state. There's an area a few minutes from my apartment that is literally acres upon acres of wild pawpaws growing as an understory tree. I can pick them for about a three week span depending on which trees get more sun exposure (these trees ripen earlier). I went twice this fall and picked 50 lbs. in about a half hour. It's really good to see in the article that they are making things with them. Like sdpmd said, the issue is how quickly they can spoil. You can only eat so many fresh pawpaws in a four or five day period and I don't care for cooking with them as they get a weird taste when exposed to heat that I don't like. I still have a gallon of frozen pulp in the freezer, maybe I will have to try ice cream or gelato like in the article. :) As far as my two cents on the sun exposure, young ones can have trouble being in full sun but if you can get them established they will grow fine in full sun. We have some pawpaws here on my university's campus, in full sun, and they are growing fine. In fact, I didn't even recognize the trees at first because they were so big and filled out. They grow very vigorously being in full sun. If anyone has room and a little patience, I would encourage them to grow this fruit, it tastes wonderful.

I've read spreading cottonseed meal at the base of trees during bloom attracts flies as well. It works as a fertilizer as well.

Nice idea Kelby, I'll have to remember that.

I've got about 10 grafted varieties in ground and am hoping to get my first fruits this year. Went to a tasting last year and the cultivated ones were delicious (wild ones are good too). We're looking to put in about a half acre of them at the new place, so I'm hoping to develop a local market for them. No one really knows what they are (including me until a few years ago), so it's neat to re-introduce them to a native fruit.

Tim, I read Neal Peterson sold his pawpaw's at DC markets for $5-$8/lb in the early 2000's when he did fresh market. Granted, DC is going to have higher end customers, but I'll bet you can do well in more affluent parts of central PA.

Thanks for sharing this, I love pawpaw and it's gaining popularity every year world wide. Most of our fruit varieties come from other countries, but pawpaw is an All American fruit. 
Neal Peterson is doing a campaign raising funds to have his varieties released in Japan and in Europe. 
I have one selected variety from a seedling I had that fruited last year, it was much earlier than other varieties. It has Yellow custard flesh and very sweet, no aftertaste. I will have a few grafted trees to offer by spring/summer.

I've never had one. If anyone could overnight one to me next fall I'd be willing to trade a fig for it. PM me if you would be interested.

I've also never had a paw paw, but I decided to plant a few anyway and just trust that they will be decent tasting.  I figured the worst case scenario is I could give away the fruit to my friends who I know already like paw paws.  I'm hoping I have some fly pollinators already around, as I don't relish the thought of hanging rotting meat on my trees, which are currently planted as a hedge between us and our next door neighbor.  I may have to try the cottonseed meal suggestion.

@ADelmannto, if you just want to taste the fruit, you can get frozen paw paw at http://www.integrationacres.com .  They also ship fresh ones when they are in season.

Johnny,

You can get a sneak peak at the flavor this fall. We are lucky where we live. There are wild paw paws all along the conestoga and Susquehanna. We'll have to take a trip this fall and I'll show you.

I have friends that have lived in North Carolina and they say there are wild Pawpaw all over this area.  They have given me a few locations to go hunting in.  I plan on putting a few along the stream in the back yard.

I've never tried them either but ordered 2 or 3 named varieties (I honestly don't remember how many...) for Spring delivery.  Something different and truly American!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1750376414/peterson-pawpaws-go-global


Bass mentioned neal peterson doing a campaign to raise funds, heres a link if anyones interested. They also have rewards for donations, shirts, pawpaw plants and seeds. Personally im eyeing up this pawpaw mug...

Don't think they grow here.  Never seen one in this town, and if I did, wouldn't recognize.  BUT, people here don't have fig trees either.  What they do have are muscle cars they make themselves, Cowboy hats, Jeans, Boots, and the ever present cigarette hanging out their mouths...........

I'm not sure they could take the dry.  Here in North Carolina the best way to find wild ones is to walk along a stream bank.

There are three small pawpaw trees at the Fullerton arboretum here in Southern California, so it is possible to gro them in SoCal.

Nice! If they grow at the Fullerton, they might in the Huntington Gardens too. The climate is more mild here I think.
I will ask the staff the next time I am there.