When Kyle Townsend and Mitchell Gunther decided to start an orchard in this town just east of Niagara Falls two years ago, they quickly dismissed the idea of growing conventional fruit. Warmer winters, followed by snap freezes, were devastating apple and peach crops. They nixed grape vines and berries, which invasive pests were targeting.
“Just hear me out,” Townsend told his business partner, “we’re putting in a pawpaw orchard.”
Pawpaws are North America’s largest native fruit — and are exceedingly rare, found mainly in the wild across 26 states, including Ohio, or in small orchards in Appalachia, where the trees have historically thrived. Praised for their flavor, which is sometimes described as a cross between a mango and banana, the custard-like fruit is an ideal spoonable dessert. You won’t find them in the supermarket — but some plant breeders are trying to change that.
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