While walking his rolling garden Ethel farm estate, registered as Happy Land Farms, Danny Williams sheds light on another meaning of the word PawPaw. While Williams is indeed grandfather to 11, it’s also the name of his favorite fruit tree, which also produces the largest edible fruit native to North America. Never heard of it? The PawPaw (Asimina triloba) is a “short, fat banana-shaped pod with a banana-like flavor and creamy texture, 2.5-4” long, green turning brown when ripe in the fall,” according to the Friends of the Louisiana State Arboretum. It’s also a Louisiana native plant, which means it’s great for our ecosystem and will get you one step closer to achieving your Louisiana Native Habitat garden certification. 

The fruit can be food for small mammals, birds, insects and the flowers attract butterflies, or you enjoy the fruit in a jam or as is. “A pawpaw’s flavor is sunny, electric, and downright tropical: a riot of mango-banana-citrus that’s incongruous with its temperate, deciduous forest origins,” raves Sara Bir of SeriousEats.com. 

Why have we not heard more about these, and much less, had a flavorful encounter with this species? It comes down to the fact that it is very hard to ship them, because they don’t have as long of a shelf life as a peach, apple, or other commercially abundant fruit, says Desmond R. Layne, Ph.d, Ag department head at Auburn University. You have to be very near to an orchard to ever get a taste of one. So bottom line, plant one or make friends with Danny Williams.

Fun fact, Danny Williams’ farm was one of the first 10 organic farms registered in Louisiana. “Everyone assumes I’m gonna think and act a certain way when they meet me, but I like to keep an open mind about things,” muses Williams. He currently farms for his family enjoyment only and it includes staples like fresh strawberries, asparagus, beans, peas, onions, laying hens, and multiple fruit trees and berry bushes. 

His best garden advice: “You can always survive if you keep beans or peas planted. They produce every 60 days and will keep you fed.”

Got a paw paw of your own? Check out this video on how to eat the fruit and harvest its seeds.