I just want to point out that paw paws are starting to become edible here in Maryland! These trees have a habit of having their fruit get ripe at wildly differing times, so you can find rotten paw paws and hard-as-a-rock unripe ones hanging right next to each other… but today I started finding some just slightly soft enough to take a chance on harvesting them. Good eating awaits!
Flying Squirrel Outdoors 
I’ve actually never had a pawpaw before
LikeLiked by 1 person
You should! Surprisingly tropical, sort of a mango-banana combo in flavor. They have annoying stacks of black seeds about the size of a quarter each, so the easiest way to eat them is to squeeze out the pulp and eat around, then spit out, the seeds. They don’t last very long, but while they’re around it’s a nice treat.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A local nature conservancy group offered pawpaw seeds to the public in order to get some to grow in the area. I have two very small trees now growing in the light woods behind my house. They are protected by a net of chicken wire to keep deer and rabbits from them. It will be a long time until they make fruit that that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There were efforts in the early 20th century to grow and distribute paw paws commercially, but their shelf life is extremely low (ripe for maybe 3 days, then rotten), and a given tree might produce 20 fruits, or just one, and vary from year to year. So, good luck to your saplings, but don’t be terribly disappointed if you don’t get reliable bumper crops out of them!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for that advice.
LikeLike