My favorite easy-to-grow edible fruits for the NC Piedmont are figs, muscadines, blueberries, blackberries, and persimmons. Of these, the one most people have the least experience with is the persimmon. Two species grow well here: the native, wild persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) and the Asian or Kaki persimmon (Diospyros kaki).
The American persimmon
The American persimmon is a medium to tall tree, 30–50 feet, that bears copious small fruits ripening in October or November. They're relished by all sorts of wild animals — raccoons, possums, and deer among them. People have enjoyed the fruit since before recorded history, but everyone only has to learn once that it must be dead-ripe — I mean melt-in-your-fingers ripe — before eating. And then, boy, are they sweet and delicious. They usually have several large seeds, so they're best eaten outdoors, spitting the seeds out as you go.
The easiest way to harvest them is to find a wild tree and check it each fall for free fruit, gathering it as it drops. Trees usually drop continuously for three to six weeks. If the fruit isn't fully ripe when you gather it, just leave it in a bowl on the counter to finish ripening.
Eat a wild persimmon before it's dead ripe and you'll learn first-hand what tannins feel like — as if the insides of your mouth were made of dried cardboard, with no moisture left at all. That's astringency. You may occasionally sense a touch of it even in a ripe fruit, but it passes quickly.
There's one named variety of American persimmon worth planting: Diospyros 'Meader'. It produces large, tasty, seedless fruit even on a young tree. Local garden centers can order it for fall or spring planting.
The Kaki persimmon
Kaki persimmons are smaller trees, usually under twenty feet, and make excellent home landscape trees. They have large, droopy, tropical-looking leaves and gorgeous fall color, are easy to grow, and have few or no pest problems. Their fruit is much larger — about the size of a tennis ball — and very orange when ripe, hanging on the tree after the leaves have fallen like little pumpkins.
Kaki varieties come in astringent and non-astringent types. Garden centers most often sell the non-astringent, Fuyu-type kakis, which I think is a little regrettable, because the astringent, Hachiya-types are sweeter, richer, and juicier. Like the American persimmon, the Hachiya-types need to be so soft that the flesh is the consistency of jelly, with the papery skin holding it together like a water balloon.
So here's how to eat a ripe Hachiya-type Kaki: clasp the whole fruit upside down with your fingertips, with the dry green calyx pointing down, pierce the skin with your teeth, and suck the flesh out. It can be messy, so it's best to eat them standing up and leaning forward a little.
The non-astringent, Fuyu-types lack those tannins, so they can be eaten firm like an apple — crisp and mellow — though their flavor improves and they're even better eaten soft. Harvest them firm, store them chilled, and leave them at room temperature for a week or two to ripen. They keep for about two months in the fridge. I store whole persimmons in the freezer, or freeze a puree ready for baking.
Varieties worth growing
There are many good astringent and non-astringent kakis. These all have great flavor and are reliable producers:
Non-Astringent (Fuyu-type)
- Jiro — nice mid-size tree, hardy to zone 6
- Ichi-ki-kei-jiro — dwarf 8' × 10' tree, seedless
- Fuyu — heavy producer, late-season bearing
- Hana Fuyu — pretty landscape tree, 10' × 10'
Astringent (Hachiya-type)
- Great Wall — medium tree, 15' × 12'
- Saijo — large tree with small, very sweet fruit
- Sheng — medium tree, 12–15 feet
- Hira Tanenashi — ripens over six weeks, seedless
If you'd like an easy-to-grow fruit for your home landscape, try a 'Meader' American persimmon or one of the many Kaki varieties. At first they may feel like a novelty — but you'll soon find them an edible you look forward to every fall and winter.
Where to find them
These mail-order nurseries offer many persimmon varieties with good descriptions of tree size, form, and flavor: Edible Landscaping, Just Fruits and Exotics, Chestnut Hill, and Hidden Springs Nursery. A great organization for amateur fruit growers is the North American Fruit Explorers (NAFEX).