Papayas, which taste like a mix of bananas and mango, have a tropical flavor, totally unexpected where they are native: the Mid-Atlantic, Southern, and Midwestern United States. This tropical-looking native fruit, growing in a temperate deciduous forest, is unique to the US and is the largest edible fruit native to North America, measuring 3 to 6 inches long with a deceptive green skin. Pale yellow to bright orange flesh with heavy black seeds, papaya’s creamy flavor is a riot of different citrus mango flavors. With a pudding-like consistency, you can cut one in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and scoop out the pulp from the cream.
Members of the Lewis and Clark expedition ate papayas with relish and our early American ancestors enjoyed papayas for centuries and were reputed to be George Washington’s favorite fruit. There are reports that conquistador Hernando de Soto recorded Native Americans growing and eating papayas in the Mississippi Valley in 1541. And Audubon depicted yellow-billed cuckoos on a papaya branch. But the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest states are papaya areas where this tropical fruit is most prevalent.
unripe papaya
Papayas at the peak of ripeness fall to the ground, a convenient way to collect them, but it is necessary to find them immediately, at least a day after they fall. Otherwise, insects and animals (think claw and bite marks on your precious fruit) will render your papayas unusable.
If you want to prevent them from falling, you must press and squeeze your fruit on the tree. The papayas will give a little, like a perfect peach. That is the best time to pick it, as not all the fruit will ripen at once. They take their time and mature at their own pace.
Having a short shelf life (2-3 days), papayas are not an important agricultural product because they would bruise and rot before shipping. It is commonly found in forests, along streams, and can easily forage for pawpaws from mid-September to October. Just look up at the tree branches or down at the ground where they have fallen.
There is a papaya renaissance underway and there are many enthusiastic growers or pickers promoting their delicious by-products as ice cream or jams. Papaya festivals are everywhere in September and early October and that is the best time to try a papaya and pick a tree for your own papaya orchard.
Growing your own trees is the best way to stay supplied with a constant source of harvestable papayas over a 6-week period. Easy to grow in average soil in sun or partial shade (it is an understory tree), they can grow up to 25 feet tall with large leaves covering the branches. Without bothering with insects or disease, I grow mine organically, leaving it alone, and my saplings started producing within 3 years from a sapling. The trees will produce saplings that are connected by roots to the mother tree and if you release them, you will produce a papaya patch!
When I started scraping the pulp for cooking projects like ice cream and cheesecake, I became discouraged with all the seeds and work to scrape the custard-like pulp from the skin. But then I got out my food mill and it worked wonders to process over 30 papayas! In about 20 minutes, I had enough pulp, more than 10 cups, ready to go in the freezer, for many future Pawpaw cooking projects. Cheesecakes, cocktails and ice cream are on my list.
Recipes are available at Kentucky State University website.
I only have two papaya trees, which is more than enough for my own use. You need at least 2 trees for pollination, so make sure you have at least 2 trees. Pollinated by flies and beetles, the fruit is known to be enjoyed by opossums, foxes, squirrels, raccoons and birds. Both of my trees are very close to my large fig tree, which matures at the same time, so it’s a real feast! I don’t hold a grudge against the animals for the fruit, as there is enough for everyone.
