Author Archives: John S. Quarterman

Two kinds of persimmons 2025-10-09

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Evidently we’ve been mis-identifying our persimmons.

[Two kinds of persimmons]
Two kinds of persimmons

The prolific persimmon tree has acorn-shaped fruit like the red one here. Those are apparently Hachiya persimmons.

The younger tree with only a few fruit not yet ripe has flat-bottom persimmons like this yellow one. Those appear to be Fuyu persimmons.

See, for example, this GrubMarket blog post, Fuyu vs. Hachiya: How to Use California Persimmons.

They’re both varieties of the Oriental persimmon, Diospyros kaki.

-jsq

Making beautyberry jelly 2025-10-11

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Smells good while doing this.

[Pouring beautyberry jelly into jars]
Pouring beautyberry jelly into jars

Very tasty later as jelly.

American Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana.

This is the same plant whose leaves repel mosquitos, yellowflies, and other insects.

-jsq

Persimmons to eat and to dehydrate 2025-10-05

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Still picking those persimmons.

[Picked Fuyu persimmons]
Picked Fuyu persimmons

One was so ripe we went ahead and ate it.

The rest, we picked deliberately still orange, not red ripe, so Gretchen could slice them up and put them in the dehydrator. Continue reading →

Fuyu persimmons 2025-09-28

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Update 2025-10-05: Persimmons to eat and to dehydrate 2025-10-05.

A very flavorful fruit, and sweet but not too sweet. Perfect to go with breakfast oatmeal.

[Persimmons on the tree, 2025-09-28 --jsq for OPF]
Persimmons on the tree, 2025-09-28 –jsq for OPF

These are Fuyu persimmons, a variety of the Japanese persimmon, Diospyros kaki.

Many moons that tree has been there since Gretchen planted it. This year it’s really bearing fruit. Continue reading →

Sunrise over Woodhenge, Fall Equinox 2025-09-22

Here’s the sun rising over Woodhenge on the Fall Equinox.

[Sunrise over Woodhenge, 2025-09-22 jsq for OPF]
Sunrise over Woodhenge, 2025-09-22 jsq for OPF

In Merrie Olde Englande they go to Stonehenge for this seasonal event. Here, we go to the arbor where we get the grapes for eating, jelly, wine, and vinegar. We call it Woodhenge, because it has wood posts. Continue reading →

Beautyberries almost ripe 2025-09-14

You can eat beautyberries now, but they will be riper in a few weeks.

[Beautyberries, Callicarpa americana]
Beautyberries, Callicarpa americana

They’re no longer mealy, and they have some flavor. They’re ripe enough to be made into jelly.

But in a few weeks they’ll be in full flavor. Even better then for eating or wine-making.

Callicarpa americana is native to the U.S. southeast, from Maryland to east Texas, plus Mexico and parts of the Carribean.

No, it’s not the same as pokeweed, which Continue reading →

Grape vinegar 2025-09-09

Update 2025-09-22: Sunrise over Woodhenge, Fall Equinox 2025-09-22.

I asked what can we do with the grape husks?

Gretchen looked it up and started grape vinegar.

[Grape vinegar, Scuppernong, Muscadine, Vitus rotundifolia, sugar water 2025-09-09]
Grape vinegar, Scuppernong, Muscadine, Vitus rotundifolia, sugar water 2025-09-09

These are the husks from the recent wine-making.

Scuppernong is a large variety of Muscadine grapes, Vitus rotundifolia. They are native and grow wild here. These ones we grew on our arbor, which we call woodhenge. They came from our neighbor the late Barney Ray.

Continue reading →