THE PLAN… to make a plan

i need to come up with a plan.
but i’m not sure that i am quite there yet. my last trip down still saw unripe fruit on trees. my original notes also have a stand of trees labeled “20+ fruit, multiple trees” in a spot which I have not been back to. i think my next trip down there is going to need to be to check that spot in particular. future trips will be to locate good patch locations. 

at this point i don’t really have much to go on in terms of quality. i have some seeds from the cultivars that i got from the paw paw festival, and some more that i collected from the fruit i picked last friday. my thinking right now is to find a little patch that won’t be in my way for my wild cultivation or my future orchard. i also don’t want the seeds to mingle with the existing fruit. i will have to pick a spot for those to go in. 

the seeds i have from the indigenous fruit i have fairly well separated. from this last harvest i organized them by productivity. within the trees that had the most fruit there was variation in terms of taste. but I think at this point i’m just happy to have identified some productive trees. 

we have a bunch of seeds in the fridge right now taking up space, and yesterday denise made a remark about it smelling like paw paw in there, so i need to get them out at some point. i can stratify them naturally, by planting them. i just don't know where.

so that is what i need to do. figure out where my first planned patch will be. 

so, i need to:

  • finish this fall's collection
  • organize and count the seeds that i have
  • identify what spot will be the best for a purposeful patch
  • decide what paw paws i want to plant where
  • plant them
i think my next steps are pretty low stakes. in fact it might be easiest to just toss those seeds and pick up where i am leaving off now. but i do want to at least get those seeds into the ground. 

i also need to talk to my mom, jim, carly, and sean. i started a list of points.



10-20 year plan

Two related ideas.


First - 

  • “Wild” paw paw foraging area in woods. 

    • Lower quality

      • Smaller

      • More seed

      • Inconsistent taste

    • Lower price

    • Lower input

      • Some forest management needed

        • Remove some small trees

          • Not the big ones

          • Not the saplings of the big ones

  • Cultivated paw paw trees in field for retail.

    • Fields 

      • Below barn

      • Orchard

      • Behind orchard

      • Behind Garden

    • Trees

      • Grown from seed require two years for full sun

      • Inconsistent fruit quality

      • Paw paw are easily graftable.

        • Grow root stock 

        • Grow a few quality trees for scion wood

        • Buy Scion wood

What I have been doing:

  • Seeing what the paw paws on the land taste like.

    • A few good ones, but they are pretty bland. 

    • Maybe better light will help their quality.


  • Locating the wild tree patches.

    • Many on Sunni’s property.

  • Looking for places that paw paws might grow well.

    • Hill behind camp site

    • Hill below barn field under beech trees

    • Pine tree grove

    • Area below Bill’s Knoll.

  • Keeping and labeling the seeds from tasty or very productive trees

    • Mix the most productive seeds in a woods patch.

    • Mark what seeds are planted where.

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