We did it over and over, and our mother never complained.

Each fall we picked unripe persimmons and carried them to Mom, and every year she did the same thing: she would get one of her precious crystal goblets from the cabinet, put the persimmons in the sparkling glass and set it in the middle of the table. Sometime after we went to bed the fruits disappeared and the goblet was placed back in the cabinet. By the next morning we had forgotten about the persimmons, and if we asked, Mom assured us that she and Daddy had eaten them and they were quite delicious.

Of course I learned later that wild persimmons are inedible pretty much right up to frost. Once ripe the fruits become soft and sweet; if not ripe enough they have astringent properties that will pucker you up and shrivel your mouth! Here in West Virginia we are blessed with a large number of persimmon trees that are a favored food of raccoons, possums, turkeys and other wild creatures. A few of us human creatures like them too.

People have long used persimmons to predict the weather. Cut the seeds in half; if you see a shape like a spoon, it will be a snowy winter; if like a fork the winter will be mild, and if there is a knife shape, expect an icy, cold winter.

Persimmons also have a place in the history in our country. Captain John Smith, when exploring Virginia, reported to the Queen of England that there was a different sort of plum in the colony called Putchamin by the Powhatan natives. He was referring, of course, to the persimmon and that is where the fruit got its name.

Native Americans believed it was unlucky to burn persimmon wood. This might be because the oil in the wood “pops” when burned and coals will jump right out of the fire. We have burned the wood when clearing brush and it burns in an interesting pattern of square chunks and makes a bright, hot fire-but those pops and spitting coals are unnerving.

A Native American legend tells of a man who was not to eat or drink while on a spiritual journey; he passed a grove of ripe persimmons and ate his fill. Because he failed in his quest he was turned into a raccoon, to forever run on four legs, leaving footprints like a human and using his hand-like paws just as humans do, and he always knows when the persimmons are ripe enough for eating. Another legend tells that Deer noticed how fat the possum was as winter was approaching. Deer asked Possum what he was eating and Possum said, “Persimmons.”

“How do you get them? They are so high in the tree?” Deer asked.

“I run down the hill very fast and slam my head into the tree; that knocks the fruit to the ground,” Possum explained.

Deer immediately ran up the hill, turned and ran full speed back down. He slammed his head into the tree, knocking loose a few unripe fruits. His head was hurting badly as he gobbled the unripe persimmons.

“Yuck!” Deer spit out the persimmons and ran off. Possum laughed so hard at the trick he had played on Deer that his mouth split into a permanent grin.

Brer Rabbit also got into trouble with persimmons but as usual got out of the predicament with his trickery. In this story, Brer Rabbit asks Sis Cow to butt the persimmon tree to shake down the fruits. Sis Cow does so but gets her horns stuck in the tree. Brer Rabbit then got his bucket and got all the milk he wanted.

This fall, why not find a persimmon tree and gather some of this delicious wild fruit? There are many recipes for using them to make breads, cakes and preserves. And while you’re gathering the fruit, you might want to sing this old folk song:

Raccoon’s got a bushy tail
Possum’s tail goes bare
Rabbit’s got no tail at all
Just a little old bunch of hair

Possum up an ‘simmon tree
Raccoon on the ground
Raccoon says to possum
Won’t you shake them ‘simmons down

A professional storyteller, Granny Sue has several published works, available at http://www.grannysu.blogspot.com.