Persimmons Tips and Tricks
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Persimmons keep well after harvest and will continue to ripen, becoming softer and sweeter. We recommend Fuyu for garden lessons and recipes. No tree at school? Look for donated fruit from a parent, local Facebook page or purchase from a farmer (usually less expensive than grocery stores).
Try a class tasting (perfect for 2nd-3rd graders) or make a holiday salad or bruschetta with 4th grade and older students. Details below! |
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Tasting Tips
Persimmons are fun to taste in class because they are unique and a holiday food. With the Latin name Diospyros meaning “Fruit of the Gods” who can resist? Bring both varieties to class so students become familiar with their differences. Hachiya must be very soft, jelly-like to be edible. If yours is not, only taste the Fuyu. Fuyu are sweet when they are orange and firm (like a pear). They make an excellent whole food snack (like an apple) and cut up in salads. Check out the tasting plan on this link Persimmons HOTM Lessons and follow the tips below.
Start the lesson by showing students the two varieties and ask what they think it is. Because of their short season, students may be unfamiliar and think they are tomatoes or small pumpkins! Have them imagine they are Food Scientists and record their observations on a white board building a list of adjectives using the senses - sight and touch, and then smell and taste. See how many adjectives the class can name. This interdisciplinary activity is engaging for second and third graders. Allow for 30 minutes so this “mindful eating” tasting isn’t rushed.
Tastings provide opportunities to model inclusive social behavior: at the start, remind students there are many ways to describe the fruit because everyone has unique taste buds (define taste buds as necessary)! One person’s sweet can be another person’s sour or bland. Assure students it is ok to not like a food, and they should communicate so respectfully. However, they won’t know if they like it unless they try it. Most often students are pleasantly surprised by Fuyu persimmon’s soft but crunchy, pumpkin-like taste.
Start the lesson by showing students the two varieties and ask what they think it is. Because of their short season, students may be unfamiliar and think they are tomatoes or small pumpkins! Have them imagine they are Food Scientists and record their observations on a white board building a list of adjectives using the senses - sight and touch, and then smell and taste. See how many adjectives the class can name. This interdisciplinary activity is engaging for second and third graders. Allow for 30 minutes so this “mindful eating” tasting isn’t rushed.
Tastings provide opportunities to model inclusive social behavior: at the start, remind students there are many ways to describe the fruit because everyone has unique taste buds (define taste buds as necessary)! One person’s sweet can be another person’s sour or bland. Assure students it is ok to not like a food, and they should communicate so respectfully. However, they won’t know if they like it unless they try it. Most often students are pleasantly surprised by Fuyu persimmon’s soft but crunchy, pumpkin-like taste.
tasting troubleshooting
Persimmons are a less common food and some students may refuse to try it. That is OK! If it is not because of allergy, entice students by:
Often students will discover they like a food that they used to dislike. This happens especially between 4th and 5th grade as children enter the pre-teen years.
Some students may still refuse to taste, so encourage them to use other senses - smell or lick the fruit if they will not take a bite. Be informative without drawing a lot of attention to the resistant student. Engaging with their peers often provides incentive to try a new food.
- using the “Three Nibble Rule”: it takes three nibbles to wake up our taste buds - nibble, chew, swallow, three times.
- Ask students to think about how the flavors change between the first and third nibble.
- Remind them they are Food Scientists!
Often students will discover they like a food that they used to dislike. This happens especially between 4th and 5th grade as children enter the pre-teen years.
Some students may still refuse to taste, so encourage them to use other senses - smell or lick the fruit if they will not take a bite. Be informative without drawing a lot of attention to the resistant student. Engaging with their peers often provides incentive to try a new food.
Persimmons Growing and Harvesting Tips
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Persimmon trees are deciduous fruit trees best planted in early Spring after danger of frost, but before bud break. Bare root trees are available to plant in January-February. Persimmons have a deep tap root, requiring a deep hole. They flower in the Spring and green fruit ripens quickly in November as temperatures dip.
Shade the young fruit during heatwaves to prevent black sunburn spots developing, although this does not affect taste. They bear fruit within two years and yields increase from there. Japanese Fuyu and Hachiya varieties are best suited to our Sonoma County climate - choose your variety for how you will use the fruit, see tasting tips above for descriptions. |
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Fuyu are the most versatile. As fruit ripens, be mindful of the birds, who love this fruit and will devour your crop. Avoid this by picking slightly under ripe fruit (use clippers) and ripen further on a counter. Persimmon trees are long-lived, largely pest-free and do not require alot of water once established. Prune annually to control size and shape - slim branches can break under the fruit’s weight, since fruit forms on branch tips. For more details see
Sonoma County Master Gardeners Perspectives on Persimmons
HGTV Growing Persimmons
CA Rare Fruit Growers Persimmons
Harvest to Table Persimmon
Sonoma County Master Gardeners Perspectives on Persimmons
HGTV Growing Persimmons
CA Rare Fruit Growers Persimmons
Harvest to Table Persimmon
NUTRITION EDUCATION & COOKING SKILL CONNECTIONS
Choose one or two, depending on your class time:
- Cooking skills practice: slicing fruit with paring knives, using measuring spoons accurately, making salad dressing, using a whisk and tossing salad (and keeping it in the bowl).
- Cooking and fruit vocabulary: toss, combine, whisk, drizzle, spread, variety.
- Recipe reading and what to look for: Ingredients, Instructions, Servings, Nutrition Data.
- Practical Math: Identify measuring spoons (tablespoon, teaspoon, etc) and their fractions.
- Nutrition Education: For persimmons, focus on vitamin A and/or fiber, and why it’s important to eat foods with them for our bodies to function. Nutrition vocabulary: Vitamin A, beta-carotene, anti-oxidant, fiber. Background info here: https://harvestofthemonth.cdph.ca.gov/documents/Fall/21712/Ed_News_Persimmons.pdf
- Distribute the recipe for students to take home. Great salad for the holidays!
Farm to Cafeteria Connection
Persimmons were so well liked in my class tastings, we worked with our school cafeteria to purchase over 500 Fuyu persimmons from a local farmer for the Harvest of the Month lunch selection. Win-Win!
Extend Farm to Table lessons into the classroom using this rainy day indoor lesson “Where Does Your Food Come From?” in the CAFF LessonPlanBooklet. Fun for 2nd and 3rd grade.
Extend Farm to Table lessons into the classroom using this rainy day indoor lesson “Where Does Your Food Come From?” in the CAFF LessonPlanBooklet. Fun for 2nd and 3rd grade.
Recipes
For 4th grade and older, consider making a persimmon salad with Winter greens from your garden like spinach or arugula, or a persimmon bruschetta served on toast or crackers. These recipes have been so popular with students and their families that you will likely hear that they become holiday favorites!
Persimmons-Family-Sp.pdf
Persimmons-Family-Eng.pdf
- Persimmon Bruschetta
- Persimmon Spinach Salad Recipe Multiply this recipe by 4 for 20-26 students, or by 5 for up to 30 students.
Persimmons-Family-Sp.pdf
Persimmons-Family-Eng.pdf