New Orleans, LA –
In late August, one name that may not naturally fall from one's lips is Passiflora incarnata; however, if at farmers markets in late summer perhaps maypops just might. That's the English name for this native species of vining fruit that simply pops up in early May to grow like a weed on trees in the Deep South. Petal, Mississippi farmer Penn Travis brings these wild-harvested fruit to Market. With a withered yellow-greenish exterior, the interior is all grey and gelatinous with inedible seeds. Folks have been eating the fruit and spitting out the seeds for generations, just as they have been grinding the fruit through a sieve for desserts. It is a sweet late-summer treat not available in stores - only markets. For the WWNO farmers market minute, this is Richard McCarthy.