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Pawpaws

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba).
Linda Haugen, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org
Pawpaw (Asimina triloba).

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. If you search Making It Grow Youtube Pawpaw, you’ll see a fascinating interview with Professor Greg Reighard of Clemson. Although Dr,. Reighard travels over the world sharing information with fruit growers, he is a member of the International society for horticultural science, he is still interested in our underappreciated native fruit, the pawpaw, and our conversation took place in the pawpaw orchard at Musser Farms near Clemson.

Native to 26 states, from northern Florida up to Ontaria and even growing in Eastern Nebraska, pawpaws once were an important food source for native Americans, explorers who had to live off the land, European immigrants and animals. Pawpaws don’t ship well so they are known in places where people still grow and harvest them. The Midwest, which enjoys such regional foods as deep fried ravioli, is also home to pawpaw festivals in Michigan and Ohio.

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Amanda McNulty is a Clemson University Extension Horticulture agent and the host of South Carolina ETV’s Making It Grow! gardening program. She studied horticulture at Clemson University as a non-traditional student. “I’m so fortunate that my early attempts at getting a degree got side tracked as I’m a lot better at getting dirty in the garden than practicing diplomacy!” McNulty also studied at South Carolina State University and earned a graduate degree in teaching there.