It's All In The Persimmon

This is my first time to link to Friday Finds. I've seen it on several of my friends blogs, so thought I'd give it a try. Kim Klassen's Friday Finds "is a place to gather and share your finds with fellow creatives..."  Finds can be anything objects, thoughts, moments, or lessons. All you have to do is find something, post a picture, and write a little about your discovery.

 

I set out to find the weather prediction for winter in our area.

According to folklore, all you need is a persimmon seed.

First, you have to find a persimmon tree.

We happen to have one in our back yard.

 

 

Then you walk around the tree looking for a fruit you want to pick The green ones are not quite ripe. I'll warn you don't succumb to the temptation to take a bite out of the green ones...they are quite bitter.

 

 

While your looking up, glance down every once in a while. The ripe ones that have fallen to the ground are quite mushy and attract yellow jackets.

 

 

When they're ripe they turn a pretty light orange..

 

 

Find the one you want to pick.

 

Cut it open and dig out the seeds.

They smell really good, but they sure are messy.

 

 

 

You have to cut the small, hard seeds in half. I have tried to cut them open with a knife, but kept slicing my fingers, so now I use a pair of pliers to crack them. You must be careful or you'll mess up the inside of the seed that predicts the weather.

 

 

Predicts the weather?

Yes, according to folklore and The Farmer's Almanac the inside of the seed predicts the type of winter weather you'll be getting your area. Here's  my FIND...

It looks like we'll be having snow!!  Yea!!

 

 

Here's how this works...

When cut into two pieces, the persimmon seed will display one of three symbols.

A spoon shape stands for a shovel to dig out of the snow.

A fork shape means a mild winter and

a knife shape indicates a cold icy winter (where wind will cut through you like a knife.)

So far many spoons and some knives have been spotted in Arkansas.

 

 

In case you don't have a persimmon tree available and no local persimmons at the market,  there are other ways nature predicts winter.

•  If you have a corn crop and your silks are very abundant, then you’re going to have a cold winter because they’re protecting things.
•  For every fog on the mountain you saw in August, there would be a snow in January. (too late to check this one out!)
•  Look for a bad winter if: squirrels begin collecting nuts in mid- to late-September.
• Heavy crop of berries, acorns and pine cones or onions with many layers means cold winters.
•  Winter will be bad if there are a lot of woolly bear caterpillars around, and if the caterpillars have more black than brown. If the woolly bear is brown at both ends and orange in the middle, winter will be mild.

 

 

Of course, I guess you could just check one of your electronics for the weather forecast, but it won't be near as fun!