Item Tag: Cocoa Tree

We have 2 paw paw patches growing about 10 miles apart. Both are in the Southern Greater Pittsburgh Area. In one we have Paw Paw native to the Pittsburgh PA area, and the other patch came from the Fairmont WV area, 66 miles south of Pittsburgh. We keep the seeds separate for our separate listing, but towards the end of the paw paw harvest we mix the remaining seeds together. This listing is for the mixed seeds. If you want a certain amount of each, send a message when you order and I’ll label them for ya, otherwise you’ll just get a random mix of WV and PA seeds. Shipping remains the same no matter how many seeds you purchase. How to plant your seeds: When you get seeds from Sam (that’s the person behind these amazing seeds), you’re getting seeds that were harvested in September 2023 from fresh fruit. Once the seeds are harvested and cleaned (a very messy job), they are kept moist and in the refrigerator. This begins their stratification. What YOU do with your seeds upon arrival will depend mostly on your climate. If you’ll have cold temps, you can just plant in the ground where you’ll want them to grow, or in pots outside or in a cold area and let nature stratify them. This does run the rick of critters getting them. We plant in pots that we cover with large window screens that are held down with large rocks. You could also plant them all together in a tub. Just keep it covered. If you’ll have warmer temps or lack time now, keep them in the refrigerator and keep them moist until planting time. No matter what, do not let your seeds dry out. Dried out seeds will not grow. When we started our paw paw journey years ago, we purchased a gallon size zip lock bag full of seeds that was advertised as a pound of seeds through Ebay. I now know that that many seeds should have weighed about 5 pounds. They were light weight and very light in color. They were dried out. NOT ONE GREW, NOT ONE. That seller is still on ebay, still selling paw paw seeds, hopefully he has learned and no longer sells dried out seeds, at least his dog is cute. I’ve also seen another seller selling seeds in little zipper bags with a printed sticker label. It’s very nice and represents a lot of time put into the packaging. The seeds are inside the small ziploc bag. Now, hopefully, that was done for the pictures and those seeds were then immediately packed with moist peat or at least a moist paper towel before shipping. The seeds Sam packs for you will be packed in moist peat with a little perlite. If you want seedlings, we will offer some in late spring, so feel free to check back. They will be dormant and bare root. Those will ship priority ONLY. We don’t use any pesticides, we grow organically. Paw Paw Tree Care and Information: Paw Paw , Asimina Triloba, is a native small understory tree or large shrub which typically grows 15-20′ tall (sometimes to 30′) and occurs in low bottom woods, wooded slopes, ravines and along streams. Often spreads by root suckers to form colonies or thickets. While the tree needs shade in it’s 1st few years, it will thrive in full sun after that time. We recommend mulching the trees with wood chips, leaves or untreated mulch to avoid the soil drying out. When we want our trees in full sun, we place a normal sized plastic lawn chair over them when they’re small for sun protection. We also wrap chicken wire around the legs of the chair to keep hungry critters from nibbling the bark or digging the seedlings up. Placing a brick on top of the chair will keep the shade cover from blowing away. You can, of course, make a shade house out of 1×2 lumber and landscape fabric. While this looks very nice, it tends to blow away easily. To keep the tree from drying out and to reduce competition, we then thoroughly water the surrounding area. Our next step is to place 2-4 layers of cleaned (no tape, stickers, staples) cardboard around the tree, watering in each layer. We want the cardboard to stay moist. Hold this down with some bricks or rocks until you’ve gotten some wood chips, store bought NON COLORED mulch or grass clippings to layer over the cardboard. The cardboard breaks down and keeps the moisture in the ground while feeding and attracting earth worms. The mulch also keeps the moisture in. You can definitely skip this step if you’re ok with watering daily in hot temperatures. Planting the trees in a shaded moist area, such as the woods or by a creek will make the added cardboard and mulch totally unnecessary. Pawpaws (Asimina triloba) often confused with papayas, is the largest native fruit in North America. It grows on trees, and is the only tropical fruit of the Annonaceae family that is able to grow in this part of the world. It’s ability to grow in forest areas makes it harvestable throughout North America, specifically from Southern Canada, to the Northern Florida, and every midwest state in between. The flavor of the pawpaw is described as very sweet, with flavors that are said to lie somewhere between bananas, pineapples, and pears. Typically, pawpaws are consumed raw, but they can also be included in breads, baked goods, & smoothies. They’re said to make a great substitute for mangos and bananas as well. Pawpaws have been recorded into history for centuries. In fact, it is rumored that U.S. president George Washington was a fan of the fruit, and that Lewis and Clark ate pawpaws during their expedition. During the great depression, pawpaws were called the “poor-mans banana”, since they were cheaper and more accessible than bananas during this rough time.