Persimmon Pudding and a Video Competition

ORLT has made the final round of top 10 land trust videos for a video contest organized by the Land Trust Alliance called “Land is My _____”. Our video is called "Land is My Past, Present, and Future"

WE NEED YOUR VOTE!!

The video was made and submitted by ORLT supporter and friend, J.P. Scott, and if he wins, he will earn $10,000 for ORLT. He will also receive a cash prize. Please check out ORLT's entry for this year:

https://www.landismy.org/content/land-my-past-present-future

Voting ends November 15 and unlike last year, you only get one vote so it is imperative that you help share our entry with your friends on social media or by forwarding them our emails.

As of this writing, ORLT is currently ranked 4th (up from 8th).

VOTE FOR ORLT HERE

The oppressive summer heat has passed. Cooler and shorter days signal a transition for many wildlife species (some might say humans, too) to prepare for winter by fattening up on the fall bounty. Walnuts, acorns, hickory nuts, grains, and persimmons are on the menu.

This is the perfect time of year to look for ripe wild persimmons when you are on your Fall outings. Persimmon trees are found throughout the Ozarks and eastward. They can tolerate a variety of conditions from hot and dry conditions to shady moist bottomland. You can look for them in roadside ditches and at the edge of fields.

Easily identified after the leaves have dropped, the little orange fruits hang from branches sometimes well beyond the first frost. Don’t pick ‘em when they’re plump and beautiful, or you’ll rue the day you were inspired by this story to connect to nature and enjoy the wild fruit! They’re ready to eat when wrinkled and ugly. Shake the small scrappy tree to make the fruits drop.

Although it produces a tasty treat for both wildlife and people, persimmons make a poor
residential landscape tree because it tends to form dense thickets. Inevitably, those delicious mushy fruits will attract birds, foxes, opossums, skunks, raccoons, and white-tailed deer. It can make for wonderful wildlife viewing experiences if you're out in the country but may not always be appreciated when these critters show up in your backyard.

By far a favorite of wildlife, the persimmon fruit has also had a long history in the diets of Native Americans and European settlers. Traditional recipes include breads, jelly, and puddings. Civil war soldiers brewed coffee using the seeds, and made syrup with the fruit pulp.

Wild persimmon fruits have a short shelf life, and you probably won’t find them in your grocery store, but the fruit pulp is more versatile than the commercial varieties you’ll find at the market, and it can be frozen for later use.

Now It’s Time to Bake!