In Ohio, a pawpaw parcity

Drought and shifting weather patterns affect North America’s largest native fruit

Chris Chmiel, who owns and operates a small farm in Albany, Ohio, about 90 minutes southeast of Columbus, said he used to have several hundred pawpaw trees but is down to about 100 this year thanks to erratic weather patterns, including extremely wet weather some years followed by severe drought.

 Can't say I've ever tasted one — North America's largest native fruit — although I do remember my mother talking about them. She spent a lot of her growing-up years in Indiana. I have, however, eaten mangos and bananas — haven't we all? — so I doubt I'm missing much.