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Paw Paw River

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Had a great paddle today on the Paw Paw River in SW Michigan. My put-in is just upstream of the point where the Paw Paw dumps into the St Joseph River which again is just upstream of where the St Joseph dumps into Lake Michigan. It starts out kind of wide but quickly narrows down and fills with fallen trees.
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You have to pick your line and you are going to bump some sunken trees.
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The river is at twice normal volume but still relatively tame. I love being able to paddle among the trees.
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I really like this pic and wish I didn't ruin it with a peek at my new blue NRS gloves.
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It started raining lightly when I got about 4 miles upstream so I turned around even though I didn't want to since we've had a lot of severe weather lately. I thought Mother Nature was letting me off lightly. By the time I got home it was hot and sunny without a cloud in the sky but that's OK. Got some good exercise paddling back into some stiff headwinds.
 
https://flic.kr/p/2g4rsBi https://www.flickr.com/photos/133956285@N05/

I found the mother lode in October 2016. When you shake the bush and they don't fall down, they're not ripe. When they're ripe, the raccoons find them pretty quickly. Also, they need pollinators. The woods I found them in was near an orchard where honey bees had been trucked in. I see them bloom a lot but few will bear fruit. I found a recipe for paw paw pudding on the web. Yum yum. Paw paw bushes are getting more numerous around here. The deer don't like to browse on them, so they benefit indirectly from high deer populations.

Reading over this, I realize I sound like a know-it-all. My apologies.
 
I'm going to look harder for them and I appreciate the encouragement and education.

If beaver like them I'm screwed.

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https://flic.kr/p/2g4rsBi https://www.flickr.com/photos/133956285@N05/

I found the mother lode in October 2016. When you shake the bush and they don't fall down, they're not ripe. When they're ripe, the raccoons find them pretty quickly. Also, they need pollinators. The woods I found them in was near an orchard where honey bees had been trucked in.

Lucky bugger. I have only once been fortunate enough to find an undisturbed pawpaw with ripe fruit. The weird custardy-ey flavor seems more tropical than Maryland plant zoned.

I’ve seen them flowering and with small fruit, but think the more local foragers keep an eye out and beat me to them when ripe.

That’s an unclosable cooler load of pawpaws. What did you do with them?
 
What did you do with them?

I cut them in half lengthwise, flick the big seeds out, then scoop out the pulp with a spoon (making sure not to get too close to the skin - that's the bitter part). I pass it through a kitchen sieve and freeze it. The baked paw paw pudding was a good recipe, but I also had muffins. You're right, the fruit, the leaves, everything about the plant reminds you of the tropics.
 
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