Persimmon Traditions

Preparing for winter is a task our family of seven has always enjoyed. This past week we loaded up in the beat up ol’ Chevy truck to go cut wood for our stove. Waiting for the chainsaw to be tuned up, we decided to explore the surrounding woods. Not to far from the site I suddenly felt a slimy, slippery, squish of something under my shoe. Hoping is wasn’t something terribly gross I slowly lifted my shoe to discover a flattened, ripe persimmon. Searching the trees I quickly spotted the rough bark of the persimmon with its top high above the canopy. Calling for the children to come and see the discovery they quickly scurried around the base of the tree collecting all the fruit they could find.

The beginning of autumn hails the dropping of the persimmon fruit. Like many Ozark families around us, we have a fall tradition of cutting open the persimmon seed to find out what winter weather has in store. If you are new to this local folklore you may be wondering what we are expecting to find. Tradition has it that if you cut the seed open you will find the shape of a fork, knife, or spoon. If there is a fork then it will be a mild winter, a knife means cutting winds, and a spoon means you’ll be shoveling snow. Not growing up in Missouri, it was my Ozark husband who introduced me to this local bit of fun folklore. It has been handed down from at least three generations in our family. It would be interesting to find out how far back this tradition actually goes and where it originated.

Over the years I haven’t really kept track of whether the persimmon was correct. I wish I would have recorded it for posterity sake. Some years we were unable to find a persimmon or were so preoccupied with life that we didn’t have time for a romp in the woods. In the past couple of years I have seen knives and forks galore. This year my husband cleaned off the persimmon seed while we all gathered around eager to see what we would find inside. Carefully he held that slippery seed in his hand as he took the knife and sliced the seed lengthwise to reveal the prediction. Much to the delight of the children the seed revealed a spoon – the sign that we will be shoveling lots of snow.

~ by Jonine on October 25, 2008.