You’re Fault: We’re All Going To Be Eating Pawpaws Instead Of Apples In Hotter World

We could lose one of the basis’ of American life! No more apple pie! All because you refuse to buy an EV take the bus and give your money and freedom to government (non-paywalled here)

This American fruit could outcompete apples and peaches on a hotter planet

When Kyle Townsend and Mitchell Gunther decided to start an orchard in this town just east of Niagara Falls two years ago, they quickly dismissed the idea of growing conventional fruit. Warmer winters, followed by snap freezes, were devastating apple and peach crops. They nixed grape vines and berries, which invasive pests were targeting.

“Just hear me out,” Townsend told his business partner, “we’re putting in a pawpaw orchard.”

Pawpaws are North America’s largest native fruit — and are exceedingly rare, found mainly in the wild across 26 states or in small orchards in Appalachia, where the trees have historically thrived. Praised for their flavor, which is sometimes described as a cross between a mango and banana, the custard-like fruit is an ideal spoonable dessert. You won’t find them in the supermarket — but some plant breeders are trying to change that.

Western New York is considered the very fringe of the pawpaw tree’s northern range. But as climate change brings warmer temperatures and more erratic weather to the region, a small but growing number of farmers are drawn to pawpaws’ low maintenance and adaptability.

In the wild, they grow from northern Florida to southern Ontario, tolerating a broad range of conditions and often spreading to form thickets. They are the only temperate genus of the otherwise tropical custard apple family — a traveler that made its way north long ago and, farmers hope, might be a way reduce their risk as climate change increasingly threatens their crops.

OK, because two guys decided to grow pawpaws and make some cash we’re Doomed from ‘climate change’

But if growers are eager to bring pawpaws north, farmers further south are beginning to wonder if climate change will hurt their crops. A severe drought in Ohio this year has farmers complaining of earlier-than-expected harvests and small, sour fruit. Some have also attributed the poor crop to heat stress, raising questions about whether the fruit can survive the effects of climate change in Appalachia, its cultural heartland.

Pawpaws have their share of skeptics. For as hardy as the pawpaw tree is, the fruit bruises easily and can go from ripe to mush on the counter in several days. Refrigerating them extends their life by a few weeks, but not enough to counter their reputation as a fragile oddity.

Seriously, this whole Washington Post article is really about two guys deciding to grow pawpaws, and they had to turn it into a climate cult article.

The post You’re Fault: We’re All Going To Be Eating Pawpaws Instead Of Apples In Hotter World appeared first on Pirate’s Cove.