It's the time of year for paw paws, so I've been told.  Anybody know where I can get some?

Why go to North Georgia? They are anywhere you can find them from the coast to as far west as Oklahoma to as far north as New York and Indiana. There are several trees by one of the cellular towers over in Watkinsville on the edge of the woods that look like they have never been clear cut. Pawpaws don't keep well, so get your fill when they are ripe.

And if they are not quite ripe, they are one of the worlds most powerful laxatives.


As in explosively laxative.

Because I live in North Georgia and didn't want to get replies for places far away, like Oklahoma.  Everything I could find on tree groves is kinda like you posted, random trees in random places that people just seem to remember seeing years ago but might not still be around.  I've never tried the fruit or even seen a tree, but I was thinking maybe somebody might know where to get some.

Are they really so common that I should just go walk around and look for them?

They used to be. They are North America's largest nature fruit and used to be everywhere. Clear Cutting has really hurt them, you see the seeds are really hard to germinate but once they do, the tree needs protection from the sun for about three years, then they are just fine and actually do better and produce more fruit in full sun (if you plant one in the backyard, shade it with dark cheese cloth for the first three or four years). So what clear cutting does is they germinate due to all the ground heat but once they come out the sun kills them because there is no old growth high overhead shade because those are the premium tress the cutters are after.

I am trying to remember where I saw some over off GA60 east of Morgantown but I can't remember the road, river, or creek I was on. National Forest that has never been cut are good places to find them. They prefer well drained acidic soil so one can look for Rhododendron (they like oak leaf pine needle acidic soil) to help find Pawpaws as they will be higher up in the more drained sunnier areas if they are around.

I have never heard of nor seen this popular and common thing.......... is it next to the apples and pears?

As I typed earlier, it is not a commercially viable fruit. It is very fragile due to its thin skin so if the truck want over railroad tracks it would bruise and ruin the fruit. It also will only keep 10 to 14 days in the fridge once ripe. It also all comes ripe in about a two week period no matter what part of the country its in so it here then its gone until next year. One is not going to find it in Kroger or Publix because of this.

By common, I meant its ability to grow and be found over the huge area that they can grow and survive in.

http://www.agr.georgia.gov/is-that-a-pawpaw-in-your-pocket.aspx