Preparing Pawpaw Seeds for Planting

While we ate the eighty or so pawpaws, we kept nearly all of the seeds in a plastic container. I originally was putting them in layers separated by paper towels. But then W bumped the container and the layers got all shuffled. So we just threw all the seeds into the container.

A few weeks ago it was time to get them organized and get them ready to be stratified in the fridge over the winter so they'll be ready to be planted in the spring. If you're interested, here's another post where I talk about the pawpaw seed's over-wintering requirements.

Because I was getting them organized, and because not everyone does such a good job as I do of cleaning the pulp off of their pawpaw seeds, I decided I would wash the seeds in a strainer.

Once they were washed, I made layers of paper towels and pawpaw seeds in the plastic container. I got the paper towels a bit wet, since the seeds aren't supposed to dry out over the winter. (I'll just mention that I've seen people online talking about needing to pack the seeds in anti-fungal moss over the winter, but I found paper towels worked fine last winter.)

Like a contact lens, this is some of the residual pulpy film from the seeds, left by people (no offense) who aren't so conscientious as me in cleaning their pawpaw seeds.

Some people say that our beings are like onions--no cores, just layer upon layer down to nothing. I'm looking forward to when we stop privileging the onion as a plant-matter hieroglyph of our souls. Hopefully the pawpaw, after a century more of selective breeding, will afford us with an adequate metaphor for our future cyborg selves. It may well have to do with the layers and layers of stratifying seeds.

Oh the strata!

And oh the scummy pulp left in the kitchen sink!

The uppermost stratum.

Even with all my effort, some of the pulp stowed away on the seeds.

The seeds when into the fridge.

And this is about what they'll look like a year from now.