American Persimmon Fruit • Production & Marketing

American Persimmon Fruit • Production & Marketing

The American persimmon, Diospyros virginiana, is a native fruit tree found from Florida to Connecticut in the east, and from east Texas to SE Kansas, to SE Iowa in the west. It grows in almost all imaginable habitats, from near swamp-like up to the driest gravelly ridge tops, and everything in between. Persimmons will grow best and produce the most fruit on deep, fertile, moist, but well-drained soil. Consult the Web Soil Survey, a USDA Soil Survey book for your particular county, or your local NRCS office personnel for assistance in selecting appropriate soils and sites.

Persimmons are among the most popular fruits in the world. More than two dozen companies find it profitable to process American persimmon fruit and market frozen pulp for anywhere from $3 to $14 per pound. Most of this fruit is hand-picked from wild trees in the forests of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky. An opportunity exists for small farmers in much of the US to grow superior cultivars of American persimmon for the frozen pulp market. Superior cultivars are more productive and produce larger fruit with better flavor and higher quality, compared to the typical wild fruit.

It is sometimes possible to purchase planting stock of grafted persimmons of superior cultivars from reputable nurseries. If the stock is field-grown and dug bare-root, it is critical that the root system still be intact. Persimmons are not good at recovering from a damaged root system. Container-grown stock is a safer option. If quality grafted stock is not available or affordable, an alternative is to plant persimmon seedlings, grow them up to 3’ to 4’ tall, then graft them yourself in place. Scion wood from superior cultivars is widely available and inexpensive. Grafting is a valuable skill worth learning.

Please see comment below for the full video script.

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Native Fruit Association: http://nativefruit.org

The Native Fruit Association (NFA) was formed to promote and share knowledge about native fruits of the Midwest that have commercial possibilities. The group has received grants from Iowa Department of Land Stewardship to create demonstration plots and to create informative videos and a website.

NFA has partnered with these organizations to develop a website with a series of professionally produced videos to promote the cultivation and consumption of three native Iowa Fruits: American Persimmon Fruit, Pawpaw Fruit, and Aronia Fruit::

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach • https://www.extension.iastate.edu
Levi’s Indigenous Fruit Enterprises (“LIFE”) • http://aronialife.com
Red Fern Farm • http://www.redfernfarm.com
Werner Elmker Audio-Visual Studio • http://elmker.com

For each of the three fruits, three videos have been developed:

• Short introduction to introduce consumers to the fruit and to get them excited about trying it.

• Video aimed at potential growers, showing planting and cultivation techniques, site selection, production cost estimates, and production profit projections.

• Video showing how to harvest, handle, and prepare the fruit into delicious juices, sauces, jams, pies, smoothies, and ice cream.

Each video is linked to more detailed written information on the NFA website, including several recipes for each fruit, lists of producers and their contact information, and step-by-step instructions for planting and cultivation for each fruit crop.

NFA wants to introduce both consumers and potential growers to these three little-known native Iowa fruits that are both delicious and nutritious. Producers will see how these fruits can be profitably grown as specialty crops that are virtually free of disease and pest problems. They can be grown in a system of continuous living cover, protection soil and water by reducing soil erosion to levels comparable to that of natural prairie and forest.

Playlist with all nine videos:
   • Native Fruit Association Videos  

All nine videos are produced by:
Werner Elmker Audio-Visual Studio
Website - http://elmker.com
Facebook -   / elmker  
YouTube -    / wernerelmker