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Persimmon season is here!
Bright orange fruit, fall colors, crisp outdoor air, and community are a wonderful combination. Persimmons can be rare and expensive in the market, so the fruit we provide to food pantries for the families and seniors they assist is special. Here are the new home harvest opportunities arranged for volunteers so far:
Sign up links are below or visit the website Events calendar. and spaces are limited, so please submit sign up requests within the next 24 hours and we'll try to include as many volunteers as possible into one event.
There may be additional persimmon harvests scheduled later for orchards and homes but those arrangements are not set at this time. Don't know much about persimmons? I didn't either, before Village Harvest. They're our most abundant fall fruit, and the two main kinds are delicious and very different. Learn more about persimmons in this newsletter, and bring home fruit seconds from a harvest to enjoy yourself. We also have a few recipes to get you started. Happy Halloween ... and join us for persimmons beginning in November! Craig Diserens Executive Director craig@villageharvest.org Home Persimmon Harvests
Meet Your Local PersimmonsOrange, in season in the fall, and not a pumpkin!If you're unfamiliar with this fruit, according to UC Davis the persimmons in California are native to China and first brought to the US in the 1850s. Most of the persimmons we pick are of two very different kinds, Fuyu and Hachiya:  Fuyu persimmons have a rounded shape, round or flat end, and are ready to eat right off the tree when they are fully colored orange. They have a mild sweet flavor, and are often prepared like a fresh crisp apple, sliced and peeled and used in salads. Hachiya persimmons have a pointed end like a big acorn. They are picked firm and fully colored orange, but if you bite into them then they are astringent and taste terrible. They must ripen until very soft, then they're incredibly sweet. This type is often called a "baking" persimmon because the ripe pulp is delicious in baked goods.After picking, ripen firm Hachiyas at room temperature on a counter or in a paper bag until very soft. They're also delicious dried, or frozen whole. Volunteers get to take home fruit seconds from harvests - be sure to try some!  Our local persimmons are delicious in many ways. Here's how some of our volunteers like to eat them.Fuyu persimmons are usually eaten fresh and used like a crisp apple; try them in salads for seasonal treat.
Hachiya persimmons, shown on the right, must be ripened for at least a few days to a week or more after picking until very soft. Keep them at room temperature on a counter or in a paper bag. Or you can peel them, slice thickly, and dehydrate immediately, a favorite "recipe" of many VH volunteer leaders. The Village Harvest website Resources page has a recipe for the Japanese version of whole dried persimmons, hoshikaki (PDF), and a recipe for very easy Persimmon Sorbet served in its own natural cup (PDF). Hachiyas are often called baking persimmons and the soft inner pulp is a delicious sweet ingredient for breads, cakes, and cookies. Here's a recipe courtesy of long-time San Jose team volunteer Heather Dooley; you can even make this recipe in the food processor, pulsing between additions. Heather's Hachiya Persimmon Bread
To ripen Hachiya persimmons, keep in a paper bag on the counter a few days to a week until very soft.
puree 2 ripe Hachiya persimmon insides to make 1 C puree add 2 tsp baking soda add 1 C sugar add 1 egg, beaten ( I don't bother beating before hand) 2 Tbsp butter, melted 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla 1C flour mix well, then pulse in 1 C walnuts 1 C raisins pulse a few times to chop & you're done. Use skinny loaf pan w parchment paper. Best not to use wide loaf pan. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hr. Makes 1 long skinny loaf or 2 small loaves. This bread will turn a nice dark color when done. Doesn't rise much. |