(23 Sep 2024)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington Court House, Ohio – 18 September 2024
1. Tight of pawpaw growing on drought-affected tree
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2. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Libbey, pawpaw grower:
"Pawpaw growers are finding we just have to be prepared for more extreme weather events. Last year, we were hit with late spring freezes that killed off a lot of the blossoms in the springtime period. This year, we were hit by the drought. So even though we were seeing kind of a bumper crop of pawpaws, the harvest time frame was accelerated much faster than what any of us had expected.”
3. Medium of pawpaw trees, rack focus forward to yellowed tree leaves
4. Wide of pawpaw tree leaves
5. Wide of pawpaw growing on a tree
6. Medium pan right of harvested pawpaws
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7. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Libbey, pawpaw grower:
"Last year, my first fruit ripened on September 15th. This year, it ripened six weeks earlier and I was completely caught by surprise. I had walked into the orchard to do my regular irrigation and the smell of the fruit just hit me. And so, when a pawpaw is ripe, it gives off this very sweet, fruity aroma. And it felt like I was in the twilight zone because I knew that something was off.”
8. Wide of Valerie Libbey placing irrigation buckets, rack focus front to pawpaw growing on drought-affected tree
9. Various of Valerie Libbey irrigating pawpaw trees
10. Medium of pawpaw growing on tree
11. Wide of Valerie Libbey harvesting a pawpaw UPSOUND (English) “So here we have a small fruit cluster and it’s definitely ripe.”
12. Detail of fruit being cut from tree
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13. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Libbey, pawpaw grower:
"This year we’ve definitely noticed that the fruit has been smaller. I’m picking up a bitter aftertaste on some of the cultivars that should have a really, you know, strong flavor profile.”
14. Medium of Valerie Libbey holding harvested fruit
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15. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Libbey, pawpaw grower:
"A lot of people in Appalachia have relied on pawpaws to supplement their diets. I know if you go back in history, when you think about African-Americans and the early foragers, they also relied on pawpaws. And we know that a lot of the superior plants that we find here spread throughout the Midwest most likely are a direct contribution from our Native American ancestors. So we owe a lot to them.”
16. Various of Valerie Libbey cutting open a pawpaw
17. Detail of Valerie Libbey holding a normal pawpaw and a drought-affected pawpaw
STORYLINE:
Stubborn drought in Ohio and the shifting weather patterns influenced by climate change appear to be affecting North America’s largest native fruit: the pawpaw.
Avocado-sized with a taste sometimes described as a cross between a mango and banana, the pawpaw is beloved by many but rarely seen in grocery stores in the U.S. due to its short shelf life. The fruit grows along the east coast of North America from Ontario, Canada, to South Florida. But in parts of Ohio and Kentucky, some growers this year are reporting earlier-than-normal harvests and bitter-tasting fruit, a possible effect of the extreme weather from the spring freezes to drought that has hit the region.
Take Valerie Libbey’s orchard in Washington Court House, about an hour’s drive from Columbus. Libbey grows 100 pawpaw trees and said she was surprised to see the fruit dropping from trees in the first week of August instead of mid-September.
(AP Video by Joshua A. Bickel)
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