Hi Christie__
Hope you don't mind me chiming in. Stumbled across your post while searching for methods of preserving PawPaw fruit.

The fruit turns yellow or brown-ish, when ripe, usually in Sept/Oct and it doesn't preserve well for a period of time, unless frozen, I've found in my search. It begins to ferment and some use it to make wine.
Good for jellies and jams and some combine them with types of tropical fruit for different flavors.

The tree is host to larvae of the Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly. Since they are fluttering around now, I assume all have emerged.

Keep an eye on the fruit, as many animals, including bears, savor the taste and will strip the fruit when it ripens.

Dad used to bring them in during the fall when he would go hunting. I think they were always near rivers. I thought they were the most disgusting tasting things....wonder what I would think now. His may have been too ripe, they were very mushy.

I want some plants just for the butterflies but need to locate a good, mostly damp area.

Glenda - I planted a couple of seedlings last fall. When I checked them this spring, I thought only one had made it through the winter, then thought the other died later, but I checked them yesterday and they're both still alive. They're near the back of the field and I haven't watered them all summer. I planted them back in the tree line so they would get some afternoon shade. They're still really small. I hope I'm not seeing something else that just looks like pawpaw.
Our friend's pawpaw is near the water also but maybe they're still drought tolerant. It could just be that the seeds are more likely to be dropped there.

I have never seen a Zebra Swallowtail. That's what I planted mine for. If the pawpaws taste good, that's a bonus.

christie,
They're usually ripe here right around the end of September; would think your season would be similar - but you have to start checking 'em regularly at least a couple of weeks early, or you'll miss 'em. Things here are ripening 2-3 weeks earlier than usual, so it'll probably be any time now. I checked a couple of 'hands' of fruit I'd spotted earlier in the summer, last weekend - still firm and green, but I'll be riding back to the far end of the farm tomorrow to check 'em again - and hope they're not already gone.

Thanks Lucky - Our friend brought us some pawpaws a few days ago. She said a lot were on the ground already. I posted in the fruit forum. I'd never tried pawpaws before, or if I did, it was a long time ago when I was a kid and just don't remember. I was expecting them to be mushy but they're not exactly like a banana. It's more of a slimy mush. lol Not sure I could get used to that but at least they did have a good flavor. The ones she brought me smelled like overripe oranges.
She said she sees zebra swallowatails there so I may have to go get some of those when my trees get big enough. A neighbor about a half mile from me has a pawpaw tree in his front yard so I keep thinking a Zebra Swallowtail might wander this way but not so far.

Christie,
I drove to the north end of the farm to check those I was watching the next weekend - and they were gone.

You can start some seedlings from the the seeds in the fruit your friend brought - just don't let them dry out. Dessication = embryo death. I have some A.parviflora seedlings growing now from seeds that I 'found' in the refrigerator - that have been there for at least 3 years or more. Figured I had nothing to lose planting them; didn't get 100% germination, but better than 50% sprouted.

Glenda I have things growing in the back of my refrigerator too but not paw paws. Usually it is fuzzy blue cheese.

Sorry you missed out on your pawpaws Lucky. It's good to know the seeds last a long time. I have some in my frig from this fall and also a few from a couple years ago.

We won't tell Helen. lol Why clean the frig when it's so nice outside.