I took a drive out to a forest in Pennsylvania with a known spot for foraging wild PawPaw. The broad leaves of the tree give a jungle like feel to the forest and they produce a sweet sugary fruit full of large seeds.  The fruit tastes tropical and similar to a mix of banana and mango!

My companions as botanists had a secondary goal beyond enjoying the fruit in the shade of the forest. They plan to grow trees from the seed for their own backyards and to share through a native wild plant nursery. We tasted and collected many fruits to find the most choice potential seeds.

I gathered them gently in a basket hoping to avoid bruising the highly delicate fruit. Along the Way, I found some very large and abundant Spicebush berries.

and then some Jewelweed seeds that have a taste very similar to walnut.

With the found and foraged ingredients I wanted to make a pawpaw crescent roll over a campfire. To do so, I made a small fire to have just enough coals to cook over. The goal is to gently bake the crescent but not the pawpaw in a tinfoil pouch. A flipped it after 3 minutes and about 2 more minutes on the other side provided a delicious fruit filled pastry treat..

PawPaw, Spicebush and Jewelweed

PawPaw Crescent ready to be rolled

Baked PawPaw Crescent Roll

PawPaw Crescent Roll with Spicebush berries and Jewelweed seeds

I’ve since planted pawpaw trees and now get to enjoy and share the harvest every autumn!

David Alexander is author of the Buzz Into Action & Hop Into Action Science Curricula.  He specializes in making nature accessible to people and wildlife.  You can follow him at www.natureintoaction.com