Re: Imagine this!

You might try picking them once they reach size and ripening them on the kitchen counter. Both the sugar apple and the atemoya will do that quite satisfactorily. 

On Dec 29, 2007, at 12:56 PM, Bonnie Holmes wrote:
I have a stand of native pawpaws in my yard. When I can get one before the squirrels, the interior is pale yellow with large seeds and a banana taste. 
The fruit is smooth on the outside, green, and rather in the shape of a
fat, more rounded banana.



[Original Message]
From: james singer <islandjim1@verizon.net>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Date: 12/23/2007 8:13:51 PM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] Imagine this!

Yeah, they're both Annonas, but I've never seen or tasted a pawpaw, so
I can't say how similar they are*. The sugar apple, also known as
"sweetsop" in the Caribbean, is really lumpy [lobed] rather than
scaly**. Each lobe is the exteror end of a segment that is quite like
an orange segment, separated by thin membranes. And each segment has
one seed. The seeds, as Kitty wrote, are black and shiny, about the
size of watermelon seeds, but plumper. The seeds are also somewhat
toxic--not exactly poisonous, but they'll give you the runs if you
swallow them.
* Pawpaws, while native to the woodlands of most of the eastern US, are 
not native this far south. The University of Kentucky has a breeding
program to develop this native fruit into a marketable crop. There are
apparently two issues with the native fruit--one, the variation in
quality is nearly equal to the variation in plants and, more
importantly [from a marketing point of view], shelf-life is very short. 

** There are lots of other Annonas grown in the subtropcs/tropics,
some, such as the cherimoya, even turn up in Wal-Mart's produce section now and then. The cherimoya is scaly. Others, such as the custard apple 
and the [native] pond apple are also scaly. But the atemoya--a
naturally occurring cross between the cherimoya and the sugar apple
[and by far the most popular Annona in subtropical Florida]--is lobed
like its sugar apple parent.

More than you wanted to know, I'm sure.

On Dec 23, 2007, at 4:30 PM, Cathy Carpenter wrote:


Related to Pawpaws?

Cathy, west central IL, z5b

On Dec 23, 2007, at 3:14 PM, Kitty wrote:


a tropical American tree (Annona squamosa) of the custard-apple
family; also : its edible sweet pulpy fruit with thick green scaly
rind and shining black seeds

Not familiar with it. But sounds good.

Kitty
neIN, Zone 5
----- Original Message ----- From: "james singer"
<islandjim1@verizon.net>
To: "Garden Chat" <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2007 3:36 PM
Subject: [CHAT] Imagine this!



This morning while wandering around the plantation, I found a ripe
sugar apple on one of our two trees. It's about 2 months late for
sugar apples, so who knows what's going on. Anyway, I just ate it;
delicious.

Island Jim
Southwest Florida
27.1 N, 82.4 W
Hardiness Zone 10
Heat Zone 10
Sunset Zone 25
Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
Maximum 100 F [38 C]
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Island Jim
Southwest Florida
27.1 N, 82.4 W
Hardiness Zone 10
Heat Zone 10
Sunset Zone 25
Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
Maximum 100 F [38 C]

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Island Jim
Southwest Florida
27.1 N, 82.4 W
Hardiness Zone 10
Heat Zone 10
Sunset Zone 25
Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
Maximum 100 F [38 C]

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