Henny Penny Farmette

The Japanese Hachiya persimmon is a small to medium-size tree that packs a lot into a landscape. In autumn, the tree’s large, leathery leaves turn orange, red, and yellow, reminiscent of the gorgeous fall colors of trees growing in the east and midwest. Of course, mine are growing on my farmette in Northern California.

After a persimmon tree sheds its canopy of leaves, its scaffold continues to provide visual interest in the garden. Globes of orange fruit hang on for weeks, looking a lot like Christmas ornaments.

An easy way to eat a fresh Hachiya persimmon is to first wash the soft, ripe fruit. Then, slice off the top, scoop out the pulp with a teaspoon, and enjoy a mouthful of the flavorful fruit that resembles sweet pudding. A word of warning about biting into unripened fruit. It is extremely astringent and unpalatable.

Growing the Hachiya persimmon is relatively easy. These trees aren’t fussy about soil and don’t need a lot of watering. In dry climates, give the tree a weekly soaking during its growing season. Persimmons are relatively disease-free and don’t attract a lot of pests.

Train them to grow into a vase shape during the first three to five years. Be mindful that the fruit is produced on new wood. However, a severe pruning will reduce your fruit crop. Once the tree is established, do your pruning during the tree’s winter dormancy to remove dead and diseased branches or those that are crossing other branches.

If you enjoy reading about gardening and other country living topics and also enjoy a good cozy mystery, check out my Henny Penny Farmette series of novels. These novels also include wholesome recipes, tips for keeping chickens and bees, and gardening info based loosely on my experience as the real Henny Penny Farmette proprietress. The novels are available online and everywhere books are sold.

Enjoy reading about farm topics? Check out my Henny Penny Farmette series of cozy mysteries. Chocked full of farm trivia and helpful advice for keeping chickens and bees and growing heirloom fruit and vegetables, all three novels are available online and in bookstores everywhere.








Get the three-book series of cozy mysteries with elements based on the real Henny Penny Farmette
These novels include elements based on the real Henny Penny Farmette



A Beeline to Murder–When the town’s celebrity pastry chef is found dead, Abby Mackenzie (a former cop who supplies the chef with her organic lavender honey) discovers the chef’s secret private life suggests the killer might be local.



The Murder of a Queen Bee–The botanical shop owner and friend of Abby Mackenzie doesn’t make it to a party where she’s the guest of honor. Her death leads Abby to speculate that friends of the deceased might be hiding her killer.



A Hive of Homicides–Abby attends a vow-renewal party of her best friend and is an ear witness to the murder of the newly arrived re-married couple. The husband’s philandering past establishes a pool of suspects but Abby is convinced that there’s more to the murder a scorned lover’s revenge.