Ppersimmons, The Mark of Beauty

This episode is about persimmons. We visit a farmer who has been growing the fruit for the past 50 years. He has 800 premium persimmon trees in his orchard. We also look at dried persimmons, a traditional method of preservation that dates back 1,000 years to the Heian period (794-1185). Drying the fruit more or less triples its sugar level. And we feature arts and crafts fashioned from the fabled dark, marbled wood of certain persimmon trees. Only about one in a thousand of these trees produce this wood, which is prized for its lustrous sheen. Don't miss the unique confectionery made with persimmons, as well as a dyeing technique that relies on the juice of this fruit.