Field Guide · Harvest · 6 min read

How to Harvest Pawpaws

The largest fruit native to North America ripens over about two weeks and will not wait. Here is how to catch it.

Written on the farm by Nathan Story · Story Thyme Farms, Missouri · Updated

Story Thyme Farms · Bench cardLate Aug–Oct

How to harvest pawpaws

Asimina triloba. How to tell when they are ripe

DifficultyTiming is everything
Ripe testGives like an avocado
Keeps2–3 days on the counter
FridgeAbout a week
1Feel the fruitA ripe one gives like a ripe avocado
2Smell the fruitFollow the smell
3Shake the treeLet the tree tell you
4Using them quicklyEat, refrigerate, or freeze them within days
Materials needed · Harvest basket · Freezer bags · Food mill
Written on the farm · Missouristorythymefarms.com/guides/how-to-harvest-pawpaws

Prints on one page. The long version below stays on the screen.

How to grow pawpaws from seed How to stratify pawpaw seeds →

The long version

Watercolor plate of ripe pawpaws on the branch, one halved showing seeds
Asimina triloba · field plate

There is a reason you never see pawpaws in a grocery store: a ripe one keeps about as long as a cut banana. The whole harvest is a two or three week window in early fall, and the fruit tells you when it is ready if you know the three signs.

  1. Step 1 · Feel the fruit

    A ripe one gives like a ripe avocado

    Watercolour plate of a hand cupping a green pawpaw fruit on the tree and pressing gently with a thumb, the flesh yielding like a ripe avocado

    Hold the fruit and press gently with your thumb. A ripe one gives under light pressure, the way an avocado or a ripe peach does. If it is rock hard, it needs several more days. The skin color barely changes as it ripens, so go by feel rather than by looks. A green pawpaw can be completely ripe.

  2. Step 2 · Smell the fruit

    Follow the smell

    Watercolour plate of a ripe pawpaw fruit hanging in a cluster with soft yellow-green skin, faint speckling, a suggestion of fragrance in drifting lines

    A ripe pawpaw gives off a strong, sweet, tropical smell somewhere between banana and mango, noticeable from a step away. If a patch of trees suddenly smells like a fruit stand, the fruit is ready.

  3. Step 3 · Shake the tree

    Let the tree tell you

    Watercolour plate of ripe pawpaws dropping from a gently shaken branch into cupped hands, unripe fruit still holding fast above

    Give the trunk or a limb a gentle shake. Fully ripe fruit drops into your hands or onto the ground, and unripe fruit stays on. In a wild patch, fruit on the ground with soft flesh and brown speckles is the best of it, as long as you get there before the raccoons do.

  4. Step 4 · Using them quickly

    Eat, refrigerate, or freeze them within days

    Watercolour plate of a halved ripe pawpaw with custard-yellow flesh being spooned away from the large brown seeds into a bowl

    Pawpaws last one to three days on the counter and about a week in the refrigerator. To freeze them, cut each fruit in half, spoon the soft flesh off the large seeds, and pack the pulp flat in bags. Frozen pulp keeps its flavor for months and is good for ice cream and quick bread. If you want to grow trees, save the seeds and keep them damp.

Materials needed
Harvest basketFreezer bagsFood mill

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Questions we actually get

Will pawpaws ripen on the counter after picking?
Only fruit picked at the edge of ripe will soften a little more indoors. Truly green fruit picked early just shrivels. Harvest at the soft-give stage or let the tree drop them.
Are the brown spots and black patches bad?
Cosmetic. Pawpaw skin freckles and blackens as it ripens, like a banana. It is the flesh that matters, golden and custardy. Skip any fruit that is fermented-smelling or mushy-sour.
Can I eat the skin or seeds?
No to both. Spoon the flesh and spit the big brown seeds, both skin and seeds can upset a stomach. The seeds are your next grove, see our pawpaw seed stratification guide.
From the plant library

Pawpaw — the full profile

Zones, cold-hardy cultivars, spacing, feeding, and where to buy one already rooted.

Open the pawpaw guide →