Here is a real artsy farsty photo of some persimmons. Considering how all our conventional fruit trees were shocked by this spring's freeze, the persimmons are booming. Probably because they are native. I collected about 5 pounds last week on campus. Some people are a little disgusted by the persimmon because you pick it up off the ground when it's nice and squishy and moribund (well not quite) but still a nice bright orange and then you squish them and use them like any fall fruit, as filler in cookies or pudding.
Some lore suggests you can cut open a persimmon seed lengthwise and if the inside looks like a spoon, it means it will be a long hard winter. If it's a fork, though, a mild winter you'll have. Or vise versa.
