Pawpaws, Snowpaws

Another cozy winter day

It’s been rather cold these last few weeks. Almost too cold. Almost cold enough for long enough that it would be reasonable to start complaining.

But, today the high temperature lifted into the mid 20s Fahrenheit, and it was bright and sunny and a good day for a walk in the park with the cat.

Mr. Chips likes to walk outside and then messily tuck himself in

I have a few tricks up my long-underwear-top sleeves for making it through rough winter stretches. These include:

• Committing to an unreasonable number of work responsibilities

• Binge watching TV programs everyone else saw 5-10 years ago

• Going outside (it’s good for you)

• Wearing appropriate gear (wool, silk, ice fishing snowsuits)

• Starting seeds for next year’s garden/prairie/orchard

And old-but-new ambition in the seed department involves pawpaws. These magical, native, tropical-tasting-woodland fruits are so obscure that spellcheck is not hip. It’s not a coincidence that their favor profile seems from warmer elsewhere — it’s the only genus within its family that is native to temperate regions, while its fellow family members stick to the tropics and subtropics. A northward explorer! And North America’s largest native fruit!

My first attempt to grow them started years ago with an Etsy purchase from a permaculture nerd. I was successful in getting a seed to germinate, growing it in a 5-gallon bucket for a spell, and then putting it in the ground south of the propane tank at the farm. It keeps going, but has barely put on any growth and gets nibbled down to nothing each winter.

With the help of a professional colleague who took on the adventure of the premier pawpaw festival this past year, I’ve got a slew of new seeds that have been enjoying a moist, cold refrigerator experience since September. If I can get these going, I’ll be more careful in how I position and safeguard them, in hopes of late summer custard-y tropical goodness in the years ahead.

For the time being, their biggest threat is Mr. Chips, who hates all these cold days trapped inside. Despite his other charms, one significant area of improvement for him would be taming his planticide tendencies.