The Native Fruit Worth Remembering

What this episode covers

“A perfume so intense it confuses the senses.” One of North America’s least-known native fruits, the pawpaw deserves a stage of its own. Jessamine chats with historian, writer and citizen of the Choctaw Nation, Devon Mihesuah. Having grown up eating pawpaws, Devon wants pawpaw fruits to be available to Indigenous communities for years to come. To explore a pathway to pawpaw preservation through cultivation, Jessamine speaks with Neal Peterson, a plant geneticist who has spent the last 45 years creating pawpaws for the future. Topics covered in this episode: Min 1:00: Jessamine recites her letter to pawpaws Min: 2:50: Jessamine gives a brief introduction to pawpaw Min 3:40: Meet Devon Mihesuah Min 4:40: Devon recounts her pawpaw past and present Min 6:40: Favorite ways to eat pawpaws Min 7:45: Role of pawpaws in Choctaw diet Min 9:15: Cultural knowledge regarding pawpaws Min 11:40: Foraging wild pawpaw challenges Min 13:30: Tribes revitalizing pawpaws and indigenous food sovereignty Min 15:00: Devon describes growing her own pawpaw plants Min 17:00: Meet Neal Peterson Min 18:00: Neal recounts his first taste of pawpaw Min 19:30: Neal describes his research findings and method of past pawpaw breeding Min 21:30: Neal finds surviving pawpaw trees to begin his cultivation process Min 24:00: Neal explains the metrics evaluated to obtain his successful cultivars Min 27:00: Neal praises the rise of pawpaw excitement and compares its future to be similar to blueberries Learn more about this episode of Fruit Love Letters at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at /WhetstoneRadio. Guests: Devon Mihesuah, Neal Peterson

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