so, what do the wooly worms and persimmons say this winter?

[greybeard]

Saw a few wooly worms a couple of days ago, with almost solid black. just a little orange in the middle.

What say the persimmon seeds?

 

[coachg]

We got spoons in North Bama

 

[Mark Reynolds]

I got knives in the persimmons in SE Ohio/N West Virginia (Ice), and a whole lot of orange on the wooly worms with little black (is that mild/warmer in meaning?)

We got spoons in North Bama

So you are going to get lots of snow..... Climate change I guess.

 

[Ky hills]

Haven't seen or heard from the local persimmons. But did see a couple pretty typical wooly worms right around Christmas. 1 looked pretty much much like the average wooly worm, the other had quite a bit more brown in the middle and just narrow bands of black in the ends .

 

[Ouachita]

Mother's Nature has been giving mixed signals around here this fall/winter. Too much retained stump water, I suspect. She's kinda moody and can't make up her mind.

 

[4hfarms]

Worms were almost all black and persimmons are spoons.

 

[coachg]

I got knives in the persimmons in SE Ohio/N West Virginia (Ice), and a whole lot of orange on the wooly worms with little black (is that mild/warmer in meaning?)

So you are going to get lots of snow..... Climate change I guess.

Haven't got but a light flurry but we get our biggest snows in March and April. Crazy I know but that's when we get the moisture and the correct temperatures.

 

[Dave]

I haven't seen any wooly worms or persimmons here. What does that mean?

 

[Mrcopier]

Seen a lot of worms. Mostly black. I'm like Dave what does the worm being all or partial blackmean

 

[kenny thomas]

The blacker the worm, the worse tge winter

 

[Mark Reynolds]

I haven't seen any wooly worms or persimmons here. What does that mean?

It's folklore. I don't remember the wooly worms prediction exactly so someone else will have to answer that one. But, in the fall of the year when persimmons ripen and fall from the tree, you can take a seed (they have lots of seeds) from one and split it in half along the flat side. (This can be quite difficult to do, requires a sharp knife, and I'm always afraid of cutting myself. But the results are interesting and entertaining). In the center of the split half, (either half or both halves if it split well for you) you will see either a white 'spoon', 'knife', or 'fork'. In reality, what you are looking at is the embryonic persimmon tree. The appearance of a knife means you will have an icy winter, a spoon means you will have lots of snow, and a fork means a bountiful harvest and well supplied winter.

 

[Mountaintown Creek Ranch]

What if you bought it at the supermarket

 

[Mark Reynolds]

What if you bought it at the supermarket

Um........

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Never heard the persimmons folklore.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

Never heard the persimmons folklore.

I'm not sure there are persimmon trees up your way? You aren't too much further north, but they do have a limit not too much further north from where I am. The persimmon is the furthest north growing tree of species in the Ebony family.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

 

[BFE]

What if you bought it at the supermarket

Doesn't count. You have to pick them out of a pile of coon droppings for any prediction to be valid.

Coons do love persimmons, it's amazing how many they eat.

 

[greybeard]

I have seen only 1 wild persimmon tree in my life in Texas and that was back in the '60s at our old home place I grew up on in Highlands. I do know they were growing somewhere at my property I moved from in 2022, as I have seen partially eaten persimmons on the ground but I never could find the tree they came off of. (I've also never seen persimmons for sale at a grocery store)

 

[Mark Reynolds]

I have seen only 1 wild persimmon tree in my life in Texas and that was back in the '60s at our old home place I grew up on in Highlands. I do know they were growing somewhere at my property I moved from in 2022, as I have seen partially eaten persimmons on the ground but I never could find the tree they came off of. (I've also never seen persimmons for sale at a grocery store)

@greybeard, there are actually two different trees you might have seen for your tree, but I can't tell you which one you saw. The first, which I have seen plenty of and have made many, many deserts from (mostly persimmon pudding) is this: Diospyros virginiana is a persimmon species commonly called the American persimmon, common persimmon, eastern persimmon, simmon, possumwood, possum apples, or sugar plum. The other tree you might have saw is Diospyros texana, which is a species of persimmon that is native to central, south and west Texas and southwest Oklahoma in the United States, and eastern Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. Common names include Texas persimmon, Mexican persimmon and the more ambiguous "black persimmon".[1] It is known in Spanish as chapote, chapote manzano, or chapote prieto,[2] all of which are derived from the Nahuatl word tzapotl. That word also refers to several other fruit-bearing trees. The Texas persimmon to me sounds like an entirely different tree or bush, but the fruit, based on the pictures, appears very similar to the American persimmon that I am familiar with. I really only ever hear the tree referred to as 'persimmon' which for me has only ever been thought of as the American persimmon. I don't know if the two trees are typically thought of as the same where they both exist or if the Texas Persimmon is thought of as something else and the American Persimmon simply referred to as persimmon. I like trees and I would like to see a Texas Persimmon sometime, and see if I can make deserts with its fruit as well.

The persimmons in the grocery store, there are actually multiple kinds, but are very seasonal, are large, for the persimmon I know. About the size of a baseball. They are orange like the ones I know. I have never tried them as they are hard and shiny/smooth when I see them. I equate that with an unripe persimmon that will make you pucker from now until next month. Don't want to ever eat a persimmon that isn't ripe yet. Once they are ripe, they taste wonderful. They have a flavor unlike anything else I've ever eaten.

 

[Ouachita]

As a younger immature person (last year), it was entertaining to trick family and friends into taking a bite out of a persimmon before first frost.

An elderly lady at our church used to always bring a persimmon pie to the fund raiser auction. It commanded top dollar, every time.