Woodside Pawpaw

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Middleburg, VA
Woodside Pawpaw

Dedicated to spreading the knowledge and love of the North American Pawpaw (Asimina triloba). Inform

Operating as usual

11/02/2022

November marks the end of pawpaw season in our part of Virginia. No more fresh or refrigerated fruit, the leaves are changing, and trees are getting ready for a sleepy winter.

It’s time to celebrate a big year for Woodside Pawpaw. We’ve transitioned from a small educational farm resource to a recognized orchard and licensed nursery. We launched our website (www.woodsidepawpaw.com), had our first round of in-person sales this Fall, and have big plans for 2023. Stay tuned, pawpeople.

09/17/2022

A huge thank you to everyone that came out over the weekend to support us! We sold out and couldn’t be more grateful to share our love and knowledge of pawpaws with our community! Until next time!

09/17/2022

Pawpaw lovers! We’re at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Fall PlantFest until 3 p.m. today! We’re selling 1-3 year seedlings, fruit, jam, and more! 🌱

09/15/2022

I’ve seen too many broken branches, maimed fruit, and even hacked down pawpaw trees this year 😭 Really thrilled about the increased interest in our beloved tree and fruit, but please, please, please educate others on how to forage properly.

09/09/2022

Hey, pawpaw lovers! 👋 Stop by our booth at Fall PlantFest next Friday and Saturday, Sept. 16 -17, at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden! We’ll be selling seedlings, fruit, and more!

08/10/2022

Beating the heat with our pawpopsicles!

07/30/2022

Following up on the last post regarding sunburn, here’s a way to help prevent any potential issues with your new grafts or young seedlings.

Remember that pawpaws are most often an understory tree and rely on taller trees for shade protection until they’re old enough or tall enough (~18 inches) to fend for themselves. KSU recommends using 30% shade cloth but anywhere from 10-50 can be used depending on your area. For example, if you’re in a particularly hot dry and sunny location (i.e. south), higher percentage shade cloth is recommended. If you’re in a cooler, wetter, shaded location, go for a lower shade cloth percentage.

When in doubt, go for a 30% and you should be covered.

07/28/2022

These incredibly resilient trees can often recover from sunburn based on their already established root system. So even if your pawpaws got sunburnt and seemed to have died, all might not be lost! Patience is the lesson here.

Stay tuned for the next post regarding sun protection in young trees!

07/22/2022

Swipe for fruit development time machine!

*and please use your best SpongeBob narrator voice

07/17/2022

If you go the traditional method of seed germination, you’ll start to see evidence of growth around mid-July in the center of the Pawpaw Belt. Pawpaws undergo hypogeal germination, so they develop their deep root system before the stem emerges above ground (without cotyledons). As such, it may look like the pawpaws haven’t germinated, but usually there is a lot of action below the soil and you might see new development daily!

07/11/2022

As sad as it was to lose some trees from June’s storm, it provided an opportunity to pull apart some of the larger damaged pawpaws to explore the “functional uses” of the pawpaw tree. Research shows that Indigenous peoples used the pawpaws inner bark for baskets, nets, and other resources, and it’s easy to see why. The stringy bark is exceptionally strong and comes off in long strips.

As mentioned in a prior post, it’s possible that they used trees with lower quality fruit, thus indirectly (or maybe even directly) aiding in superior pawpaw cultivation.

06/27/2022

Still assessing the damage from this past weekend’s storm. We lost about 30 trees on the property, 5 of which were pawpaws. It could have been much, much worse, but it still hurts 😔

06/19/2022

Happy Father’s Day to all the ‘pawpaws’ out there! Shout out to my pawpaw for this awesome 3d printing project

06/12/2022

Perhaps one of the reasons people “have never seen pawpaw fruit” is because they almost blend in with the leaves.

So it’s time to practice! How many new pawpaws do you see growing?

04/27/2022

Spidey seems to be enjoying the yeasty-scented goodness as well!

04/15/2022

Did a fun thing and gave this (previously unnamed) color a name! (via colorname.org)

03/19/2022

With winter (hopefully) behind us, it’s a great time to prune your trees! An important note—pruning or shaping pawpaw trees is an optional and personal choice. Some growers swear by it, while others let nature run it’s course. I particularly like not having to use a ladder or risk the damage to fruit by natural drop.

Today I’m sharing one of my favorite graphics regarding pawpaw pruning and shaping from the book, For The Love of Pawpaws, by Michael Judd - . Pay particular attention to the lateral branch angles for strong limbs to bear fruit. Also worth noting is the amount of air flow between branching, which helps reduce potential fungal growth.

Be sure to check out Michael’s books for all things pawpaw and permaculture related!

03/09/2022

A Pawpaw Martini toast to all of the incredible women in our lives this International Women’s Day!

03/01/2022

It's Scion Time! Scion wood is taken from trees with exceptional qualities (cultivars) and later grafted onto rootstock to produce a clone of that cultivar. In late winter, when temperatures are above freezing for at least 24 hours but trees are still dormant, you can start the process of collecting scion wood.

Choose a piece from last year's growth (the darker portion at the tip of a branch) about 8 inches long and containing at least 3 flower buds. Make an angled cut just above a bud and place the scion stick in a marked zip lock bag with a moisture holding medium (wood shavings, sphagnum moss, paper towel, etc.) and keep in the refrigerator until its time to graft. You want to leave the flower buds on for as long as you can, and then rub them off just before grafting.

Scion cutting can be done at the same time as shaping and pruning, which will be discussed in the next post!

02/14/2022

When I’m not doing pawpaw things, I’m a high school special education teacher.

I have to share this story a student wrote last week. Clearly I talk about pawpaws too much at school 😂

01/06/2022

There have been a number of questions regarding Sun Scald prevention. Sun Scald, aka Southwest Injury, is essentially a sunburn on the southwestern facing side of the tree. While the plant tissue goes dormant for winter, the sun tricks plant cells into opening up, then exposing the waking growth to freezing temperatures once the sun goes down. Sun Scald can stunt tree growth, create fissure entries for disease and pests, and lead to overall tree injury.

We coat the trunks on trees over 1.5 inches with an organic white tree paint. Many growers use 50/50 watered down white latex paint or commercial tree wrap as well.

12/22/2021

Check out this quick recipe for a delicious Pawpaw Jam. (A personal favorite, second best to fruit right off the tree!)

Ingredients:
3.5 cups pawpaw pulp
1.75 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ascorbic acid
1 ounce pectin

On the stove, bring pawpaw pulp to a simmer. Let simmer for five minutes while slowly stirring in sugar. Stir in pectin and ascorbic acid then bring to a boil. Once at a boil, turn off heat and pour into sterilized half pint jars. Place sealed jars back into boiling hot water bath for 10 minutes, then take out and let cool for proper seal.

12/02/2021

With the weather getting below freezing in many parts of the country, it is important to protect the fragile roots of any seedlings not yet in the ground. While everyone has their favorite method of protecting these plants (putting them in a garage or greenhouse, surrounding pots with mulch or hay, etc), our preferred method is to bury them! Dig a big hole and line it with rocks & pebbles for drainage. You also want to use some kind barrier so animals don't step on the pots or munch on the new sprouts in the spring.

11/22/2021

The beautiful fall leaves of the North American Pawpaw. With their bright yellow color, now is a great time to scout out wild patches for 2022!

10/31/2021

Happy All Hallow’s Eve!

10/28/2021

And with that, our last “ripe” pawpaw of 2021!

We’ve been experimenting with placing pawpaws at different stages of ripening in various temperatures to determine the ideal long term storage situation and we’re definitely making progress! This last pawpaw was placed in the fridge just before color break on September 20th and was able to maintain for 31 days before we took it out. Curious if it could have lasted a few more days, even…

10/11/2021

Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day! Today we celebrate and honor Native Peoples’ history and culture and the connection to the pawpaw cannot be overlooked. Native peoples would eat the fruit, build and create with the flexible soft wood, and were the first pawpaw cultivators! Since pawpaw trees were cut down and used for materials, it’s likely that the ones destroyed were those that produced low quality fruit. The seeds of good fruits were planted along travel routes; so in this way, only superior trees were allowed to grow and those higher qualities were perpetuated through cultivation. Therefore, many high quality pawpaws are where they are today due to the advancement of Native cultivation those many years ago.

There’s so much to mention and we’re excited to highlight more of this important and incredible history in posts to come.

(photo via Decolonial Atlas)

09/30/2021

Clinging to the end of pawpaw season like…

09/20/2021

Check out the full moon tonight! Did you know this Harvest Moon goes by another name? Some Native peoples would refer to it as the “Pawpaw Moon”. This full moon falls in the middle of the pawpaw harvest season and was potentially used as an indicator for fruit ripening and harvest. The history of the pawpaw is deeply and directly connected to many Native peoples and is vital to include when talking all things pawpaw. More info on this connection to come.

09/17/2021

Happy National Pawpaw Day!

09/14/2021

Pawpaws are ready to eat when they are soft to the touch (like a peach), the skin is fragrant, and the fruit shows a color-break. The fruit will go from hard and green, to soft and yellow-green (left to right in the picture). At this point, the fruit is ready, but taste and texture will change depending on how long you let your fruits ripen. It’s quite comparable to a banana, really. A freshly ripe pawpaw will have sweet, bright tropical flavors, and a firmer flesh. But like a banana, once the skin turns brown and mushy, the rich caramel and custard flavors are more pronounced. No matter how you like to eat your pawpaw, enjoy! If your pawpaw is still hard and white on the inside, it is not ripe and will make you ill.

09/04/2021

Check out this beauty!

09/01/2021

It’s officially September and that means pawpaw season is upon us! This wild pawpaw tasted just like a piña colada 🍍🥥

08/25/2021

You have likely seen these black spots on pawpaw fruits, leaves, and trees. It’s common for pawpaws to develop minor fungal spots. While small spots are harmless and don’t affect the fruit, a heavy buildup can cause eventual fruit cracking, starting fermentation and creating openings for pests and disease. To help prevent this type of growth from accumulating, make sure you have good airflow around the trees and fruits. You can achieve this by pruning the pawpaw tree or removing other vegetation around it.

08/04/2021

It’s that time in the growing season where you want to keep an eye out for one of the pawpaw’s worst pests, the Asimina Webworm (Omphalocera munroei). Quickly creating a tent-like cocoon around the terminal branches, the worms destroy the leaves and stems which can cause serious damage to young trees. Be sure to destroy these as soon as they are spotted. If the damage is severe, it may be best to prune the area. (Swipe for closeups!)

07/09/2021

The small spheres beginning to develop at the base of each leaf are next year’s flower buds! If you look closely at the color difference in the stem, you can tell this is all new growth from this year; therefore, this is the piece that one could harvest for scion wood in mid-to-late winter. *Remember, round buds turn into flowers, and pointed buds turn into leaves*

06/22/2021

The cicadas of Brood X are quieting down here in Virginia. There was some debate whether they would lay their eggs in new pawpaw growth and the evidence speaks for itself. Unfortunately, the damage caused by their ovipositor is enough to kill off parts of the plant. While it's hard to see the plants suffering, that's just nature being nature. All insects play a role in maintaining our ecosystem, just like the pawpaw's famous Zebra Swallowtail in the background!

06/09/2021

Congratulations to the winners of our scion giveaway! Winners have been contacted and should receive their scion within a day or two. Thanks to all who participated and keep an eye out for future giveaways!

06/07/2021

We've got some leftover scion wood and want to spread the love! While it's late in the pawpaw grafting season for the majority of the Pawpaw Belt, a number of northern states are likely seeing some pawpaws just beginning to wake up. Remember, you want to graft when your rootstock has new leaves around 1-2 inches, so if your rootstock is already grown out, it's best to wait until next year.

To enter, tag a friend in the comment section below. You can tag as many people as you like. One tag = one entry. At 12:00 pm EST tomorrow (6/8), we'll shuffle the submissions and pick four winners to receive a mixture of Mango, Prima 1216, and Sunflower pieces. Scion will be sent overnight to get to you ASAP.

Due to shipping restrictions, this opportunity is for those in the contiguous United States.

06/03/2021

The first fruits of 2021 have been spotted!

After successful pollination, the flower petals drop and the fruit set will develop on the peduncle. Each peduncle can carry a different number of fruits. Some just have one, while other clusters can reach upwards of ten potential fruits! Having a large cluster can be good or bad depending on the tree's genetics. On one hand, if the tree can support a large cluster, you may end up with a high number of large and delicious fruit. On the other hand, the cluster may be too much for the tree and the energy needed to produce the multiple fruits can take away from the overall size and taste (ie. 6-8 small pawpaws).

Fruit thinning is the process in which one deliberately pinches off a few developing fruits from a large cluster to ensure more energy is devoted to the remaining fruits. Certain varieties, like Allegheny®, have shown to benefit greatly from fruit thinning. It is very important to mention that not all trees need fruit thinning, and sometimes this may hurt fruit production. Often, nature will do the work for you in what is called May Drop and June Drop, when many developing fruits will fall on their own to support the tree's ability. With that in mind, don't try any fruit thinning until after June Drop or you may end up with little to no fruit!

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Middleburg, VA
20117

Website

http://www.woodsidepawpaw.com/

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Comments

Woodside Pawpaw had an online giveaway for some pawpaw scion; and we won. We were able to get a few scions of some genetics (prima 1216 and mango) we didn’t have on the farm. The scions arrived in great condition and we field grafted a few young seedlings. Thanks, Woodside!