Birthday Greetings to a Forumist

[mark smyth]

THanks again everyone. Yes 50 next year but still feel in my 20s. A few minutes ago I doing the 'Jump on it' dance

[maggiepie]

Happy belated birthday, Mark and to all the other forumists who have had birthdays recently.

[Lesley Cox]

From me too Mark. Your birthday has gone on just about as long as Arne's.

What is sharon fruit please? It looks like persimmons.

[Heather Smith]

My Best Wishes too, Mark.
See you Saturday

[Armin]

THanks again everyone. Yes 50 next year but still feel in my 20s. A few minutes ago I doing the 'Jump on it' dance

A funny video. Thanks for the link.
Stay flexible, Mark!

[mark smyth]

THanks Helen, Lesley, Heather, Armin et al.

Lesley you are right about what we call sharon fruit. Named after the Sharomn Plain in Israel but I dont know the link

[fermi de Sousa]

A very Happy and very belated Birthday wish, Mark! and Mike I, Mark G, and Jozef, and Peter K and Michal!!!
cheers
fermi

[Maggi Young]

Persimmon fruit are infamous for being rather bitter unless fully ripe and even then can have a poor aftertaste, thus the Sharon Fruit was developed, in Israel, to breed out that fault and make a tastier fruit for the market......  
I  learned this from my local fruiterer when Sharon Fruit first hit our market some years ago.... he was a mine of information but sadly he retired and the shop is no more. 

[Anthony Darby]

Gosh, missed that Mark. Should remember as it as James turned 13 on 8/11.

[Lesley Cox]

I usually buy a couple of persimmons, not fully ripe, and place them on a mantlepiece as decoration. They are quite beautiful but as they become ripe I usually heave them on the compost.

[Maggi Young]

At least eat the insides of the persimmons, Lesley, it is the skin which holds the bitter taste, as I recall. If the market is selling them as Sharon Fruit, then scoff the lot! They are very attractive, for sure, with their rich orange skin and cute calyx hat.

[Lesley Cox]

I sometimes do Maggi, but usually forget to, until too late and over-ripe is not nice. We don't get Sharon fruit as such. I think the ones we get are either from Australia or are local. There are two kinds grown in NZ and one is sweet, the other quite bitter. I've last autumn planted the bitter one not for fruit but for the fantastic autumn leaf colour.

[maggiepie]

When I was a kid I loved persimmons, you had to wait until they were so soft your fingers would almost puncture them and they would be almost transparent, then pull them open and eat them off the skin.
Since I have been in Canada, I've discovered there are different types of persimmons, some have pointed bottoms and some flat.
One ( can't remember which one) can be eaten before it gets soft.
They are grown in California ( I think)
I must learn to remember things instead of wiping the hard drive each night when I sleep   

[Maggi Young]

there are different types of persimmons, some have pointed bottoms

Ooh! Only ever seen the flat bottomed types here........

[Anthony Darby]

Can't say  I've ever seen any for sale?