Good season for South Okanagan gardener's unique pawpaw fruit
An arborist and topiary artist in the south Okanagan has two unique trees growing on his property that continue to pique the curiosity of others.
Manuel Fernandez of Burnaby owns a summer home in Osoyoos and has been growing two fruit bearing pawpaw trees there for more than thirty years. He said last year the trees produced a small amount of pawpaw fruits, but this year they are loaded.
“I talk to the trees every morning with a cup of coffee in my hand, asking them what they need,” he said. “It could be worse, I could be talking to flies.”
Pawpaw trees are not commonly grown in the region — they’re more commonly found in eastern United States and parts of southeastern Ontario — and Fernandez said he often has people sending him messages asking to try the fruits.
The fruits are large and yellowish-green to brown roughly five inches long and have six to eight large seeds in them.
“Lots of people haven’t tasted one and want to know what it is, so many want to try them,” he said. “They taste like a papaya or orange, your taste buds can’t really tell what it is, but it’s so sweet and good. Some people taste guava or pineapple, there isn’t a dominant flavour.”
The fruits are ready to be picked in mid-September just before they fall. The fruit has not been domesticated yet and Fernandez explained why.
“No one wants to spend money on development,” he said. “One reason you don’t see the fruits in supermarkets is that they bruise really easily and don’t keep well so people won’t buy them.”
Fernandez receives photos from other gardeners of their own pawpaw trees or those wanting advice on how to start their own. He grew up in Portugal where he worked with his grandfather grafting trees, and when he came to British Columbia, he brought what he learned to share with others.
“I don’t pretend to know everything, but I know a little bit, especially about trees. It’s a joy to share the knowledge.”
He said once you’ve eaten the fruit, you can take the seeds and leave in room temperature for a week or two, then wrap them in paper towel and put them in the fridge for roughly four months. Come springtime, the seeds are ready to be planted. It takes five or six years before the trees will produce fruit. Fernandez has two trees because they need to cross pollinate.
The trees are hardy and resistant to pests and diseases. Once they reach four feet high, Fernandez tops them so they branch out, then leaves them alone.
“They don’t require much, they’re not a whining tree,” Fernandez said. “They grow in the bush under other big trees and don’t mind about nothing, they’re still a wild thing. It’s an interesting thing to grow.”
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The botanical name for the pawpaw tree is Asimina triloba and it’s part of the Annonaceae family, which is the largest family of the magnolia order and features mainly tropical plants, according to The Spruce.
The trees can grow to up to 25 feet high but if growing in shady forest understories will be much shorter. They produce maroon-coloured blossoms in the spring and have dark green shiny oval shaped leaves that turn yellow in the fall.
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They grow best in full or partial sun exposure with moist, well-drained soils. While the trees are cold-hardy, warm, humid summers of its native habitat provide the right conditions for growth and fruit production. The dormancy of winter prepares the tree to grow fruit.
Go here to read more about the pawpaw tree.
Go here for pawpaw fruit recipes including salsas, juices and breads.
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