Pawpaws: The Complete Growing and Marketing Guide

by Blake Cothron

Overview

Bring an almost-forgotten fruit back to life—and into your business.

Pawpaws, also called "Indiana bananas," are North America's largest native fruit. Long overlooked, they're now exploding in popularity with chefs, craft brewers, and fruit lovers—and Pawpaws is the first comprehensive guide to small-scale commercial pawpaw production.

Why This Book Matters

Whether you're a market grower, orchardist, or food forest steward, adding pawpaws can diversify your crops, strengthen your bottom line, and connect you with a fast-growing niche market. This book shows you exactly how to cultivate, manage, and market this unique fruit for success.

What You'll Learn

Inside, you'll find practical, field-tested advice on every stage of pawpaw cultivation, including:

• The fascinating botany and cultural history of pawpaws
• How to site and plan a productive orchard
• Tips for selecting top-quality nursery trees
• Descriptions of over 50 cultivar profiles
• Propagation, grafting, and organic growing techniques
• Effective pest and disease management strategies
• Marketing fresh pawpaws, seeds, and nursery starts
• Processing and creating value-added pawpaw products.

Why Trust This Guide?

Author Blake Cothron, organic farmer and nurseryman, brings over 20 years of hands-on expertise in horticulture and sustainable agriculture. He operates Heritage Nursery, a USDA Certified Organic research farm specializing in pawpaws, and is widely recognized as a trusted voice in organic growing.

Endorsements highlight the importance of this work:

"A much-needed contribution to the pursuit of pawpaw culture." — R. Neal Peterson, founder, Peterson Pawpaws

"Blake Cothron is an authority on pawpaws and provides a clear, detailed guide for commercial success in growing this oddly appealing species." — Pam Dawling, author, The Year-Round Hoophouse

The Opportunity Is Now

Interest in pawpaws is skyrocketing. Don't miss the chance to grow this extraordinary fruit, diversify your offerings, and lead the way in a growing the movement for local, sustainable food.

Discover the commercial potential of pawpaws—and start building your own success story today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771423441
Publisher:	New Society Publishers
Publication date:	08/20/2024
Sold by:	OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED - EBKS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	221
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Blake Cothron is an organic farmer, nurseryman, musician, poet, writer, educator, scientist, devotee, and mystic, with over 20 years' experience in organic agriculture, botany, horticulture, and growing food. Blake owns and operates Heritage Nursery, a 4-acre USDA Certified Organic research farm, orchard, and edible plant nursery, with a special interest in pawpaws. He shares his two decades of experience in organic agriculture and horticulture through magazine articles, including in Permaculture Design, online publications, public speaking engagements, and blogging. Blake is also a speaker and educator for OAK (Organic Association of Kentucky), an educational blogger at peacefulheritage.com, and a YouTuber. He splits his time between farming, research, gardening, travel, yoga, meditation, and being a husband and father. He lives with his wife and son in beautiful Kentucky.

Blake Cothron owns Peaceful Heritage Nursery, a 4-acre USDA Certified Organic research farm, orchard, and edible plant nursery. He shares his two decades of experience in organic agriculture and horticulture through magazine articles, public speaking engagements, and blogging. Blake lives with his wife and son in Kentucky.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction

Chapter 1: Foraging for Wild Pawpaws
Chapter 2: Description of North American Pawpaw Fruit
Chapter 3: Flowering and Pollination
Chapter 4: Site Design and Planting
Chapter 5: Choosing Your Trees
Chapter 6: Maintaining the Orchard
Chapter 7: Harvesting Pawpaw Fruit
Chapter 8: Tree Propagation
Chapter 9: Pests, Diseases, Disorders and Their Management
Chapter 10: Pawpaw Fruit Marketing Strategies
Chapter 11: Pawpaw Cultivars
Chapter 12: Troubleshooting, Cost Analysis, and Calendar
Chapter 13: Conclusion

Resources
Notes
Index
About the Author
About New Society Publishers

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Blake Cothron's book makes a much-needed contribution to the pursuit of pawpaw culture. It seems that interest in pawpaws has ex- ploded beyond my imagination since the year 1976 when I undertook my quest to bring pawpaws out of the shadows of the forest and into the sunlight of gardens and orchards. This enthusiasm is a good thing, and it now requires answers to the many questions that naturally arise for those new to pawpaws. And since pawpaws are a new crop, there are many questions that orchardists and hobbyists have that Blake expertly addresses. The future will hold more questions and definitely the need for more breeding— an opportunity for the patient and educated amateur."
— R. Neal Peterson, founder, Peterson Pawpaws, agricultural economist, USDA Economic Research Service

"Planting a single pawpaw is a re-evolutionary act. Mixed use forests once blanketed us. Acorns, chestnuts, pawpaws, and their regional equivalents were the princes of that realm. With this valuable book, you can pawpaw your own food forests, restoring the diversity, abun- dance, and climate we all need."
— Albert Bates, permaculture instructor, ecovillage designer, author, The Biochar Solution: Carbon Farming and Climate Change

"Blake Cothron is an authority on pawpaws and provides a clear, detailed guide for commercial success in growing this "oddly appealing species" (his own words). The supply of this exotic, trending, easy-to-grow fruit has not yet met the demand. Blake shares the wealth of his knowledge, including challenges— and when he doesn't know, he says so (it's probable that others don't know either)."
— Pam Dawling, author, The Year-Round Hoophouse and Sustainable Market Farming

"My own fascination with pawpaws began nearly 40 years ago with a visit to pawpaw breeder Tom Mansell's Paw Paw Haven near Pittsburgh PA. Mr. Mansell's food forest landscape had twenty-two varieties of pawpaws at one point. Eventually I discovered my own secret patch. Each September for the past twenty-five years I have waded through tall weeds, navigated a swampy stream bed, and traversed a small woodlot to harvest a few dozen complexly flavored fruits from my secret patch. These I share with friends and family and introduce new people to this uncommon seasonal delight. The pawpaw's revival is long overdue. Blake Cothron's Pawpaws will help bring about the day when fragrant fruit is no longer a rare treat, but a regular part of our seasonal diet."
— Darrell E. Frey, Three Sisters Farm, author, Bioshelter Market Garden, co-author, The Food Forest Handbook