BY KYLE LOVERN
Growing up, my late father Sam Lovern talked about the pawpaw fruit, nicknamed the Appalachian banana.
It was a fruit tree that grew wild in southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky mountains.
He talked about how good it was and how he, his brother and friends ate them when roaming the hills above their farm at Nolan or along the riverbank where some trees could be found.
I can picture them in the woods getting hungry and finding a pawpaw tree and nearby a fresh spring of water to get a drink. They were no doubt much like myself and my friends who used to roam those same hills when we were young.
Many who have tried it say that the smooth flavor of the pawpaw fruit is reminiscent of tropical fruit, like a banana, a mango or even a melon.
The trees reach maturity at 15 to 20 feet. The fruit from the pawpaw is often 4 to 6 inches long and oblong, similar in shape to a mango. Inside the fruit are sweet, creamy centers with non-edible seeds.
The pawpaw tree is even a significant part of the Hatfield McCoy Feud. The three McCoy boys were captured by the Hatfield clan and tied to pawpaw bushes in Pike County, Kentucky, then shot as one of the more brutal incidents of that famous war between the two families in this region.
There are even a couple of communities named Pawpaw, both in Kentucky and West Virginia, as well as in some other states. There is a Pawpaw River in Michigan.
Pawpaw fruits are the largest edible fruit indigenous to the eastern United States. It grew and was popular in several neighboring states.
However it has been somewhat forgotten and some are not even aware of this native fruit tree.
Many early settlers and the early Native American Indians probably ate the fruit. They also used the tough, fibrous inner bark of the pawpaw for making ropes, fishing nets and mats and for stringing fish.
When doing my research, I read that George Washington loved chilled pawpaws for their sweet custard flavor as his favorite dessert. Many may not know that Washington was a surveyor and spent time in the Appalachian Mountains mapping out new land for the settlers.
For early settlers in the woods of Appalachia and the Midwest, pawpaws were often the only fresh fruit around.
There is an American folk song with the lyrics “Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch.”
Pawpaw season usually lasts a month and runs from late August through October, depending on location.
The fruit tree started to disappear and was not as common in the 1930s, but it started making a comeback later in the 20th century. It was not commonly found in years past and, at one time, was even considered endangered in a few states.
Some people are now planting a couple of pawpaw trees on their land to take advantage and enjoy the tasty fruit. Reportedly, the trees are not hard to grow and, in some cases, can even be started from the seeds of the fruit.
There is a small resurgence of the edible fruit in the United States, especially in Appalachia. We can only hope it continues because it’s up to current generations to preserve this long-lost fruit.
I love seeing and hearing about things from the past that make a comeback. As our world changes every day and we see a different future for our children and grandchildren, it is nice to see something from the past as simple as a pawpaw bringing back fond memories.
(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)