Dehydrating persimmons and fruit leather.

This year my fuyu persimmon tree had a great crop. I harvested about 20 lbs. of fruit from this little tree in its third season. I knew the fruit was starting to get ripe when I found several half-gnawed fruit on the ground. By the time they were perfectly ripe, entire fruits would disappear overnight. I wrapped the tree in some plastic dropcloth sheeting that made a rustling noise when moved. I think that deterred the varmints for a little while until I could get around to picking. One night I was up late and noticed an opossum giving me a dirty look as I disturbed her midnight snack. Unfortunately, my older kids don't care for persimmons, and I've found most people I know have no idea what they are. So in addition to educating my friends with free fruit and the baby and I eating fresh persimmon every day, I've been drying them in slices. Persimmons dry extremely easily. Just remove the stemmy/leafy part, the calyx, with a paring knife. Peel off the skin and slice the fruit into 1/4" slices. Dehydrate until dry, but still pliable. The fruit remains a beautiful orange color when dry without any treatment though I've read that dipping the slices in lime juice before drying is tasty. Here in southern California, persimmons are becoming more popular. In addition to farmer's markets, I saw bags of fuyus at my local Von's this week. If you see some, give them a try. This fruit has been very easy to grow in my climate, bearing fruit in early fall.

 

September harvest tally:

27 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies

20 eggs

 

2013 total:

449 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
137 eggs

We live on a 1/10th acre lot and rent a 20x20 foot community garden plot.