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Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch--in Iowa?
Iowa
"Where, oh where, is dear little Susie? Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch!" These lines from a children's song may be all most people know about a tree that once flourished in much of the East Coast and Midwest regions of the United States. But if Patrick O'Malley has his way, pawpaw trees might someday be commonplace in Iowa.
O'Malley is an Iowa State University Extension field specialist in commercial horticulture. Based in Iowa City, he's working on a long-term project to evaluate the potential for an Iowa pawpaw tree fruit crop. Working with O'Malley is Tom Wahl, a Practical Farmers of Iowa farmer cooperator. "Pawpaw trees could add a new fruit crop for Midwest growers," O'Malley says. "They could be an integral part of a sustainable farm."
The pawpaw is a small deciduous tree growing to about 20 feet, with large drooping leaves and burgundy flowers. The fruit is three to five inches long. Pawpaws are most commonly described as tasting like banana combined with mango, pineapple, melon, berries or other fruit. O'Malley says that besides the tasty fruit, preliminary investigations show that compounds in pawpaw bark have the potential to fight cancer and serve as a natural pesticide.
In 1999, O'Malley, Wahl and horticulture students from Columbus Junction High School planted pawpaw trees in the Chinkapin Bluff Recreation Area owned by Louisa County Conservation. There are about 200 trees representing 28 varieties and selections at that location.
"Many of the trees now are more than five feet tall," O'Malley says. "About 50 of the trees flowered this spring but only five have fruit on them this fall. We haven't seen any problems with the exception of about 12 trees having some injury related to deer rubbing."
In 2000, O'Malley planted another 20 pawpaw trees on ISU's Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm near Nashua. "Those haven't fared as well," he says. "They have been injured by early October freezes and are at least two years away from fruiting."
The two Iowa plantings are part of a regional variety trial led by Kentucky State University, where a comprehensive pawpaw research program has been underway since 1990. Participants in the 14-site trial will be evaluating trees and fruits for several years so recommendations on cultivars and orchard and fruit management can be developed.
The Iowa pawpaw project was funded initially by Trees Forever and a three-year grant from ISU's Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Another three-year grant from the Leopold Center has been awarded, plus a one-year grant from Iowans for a Better Future. "Unlike last year, the trial will have some pawpaws this year, although it will be barely more than a handful," O'Malley says. "But it's a start, and next year, weather permitting, could be a very good year for us."
Date: 9/23/04
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